Did you know that it’s estimated that over 36 million full-time workers in America will work from home by the year 2025? The number of remote workers has exploded in recent years and is only expected to rise as time goes on.
Working from home can have a major positive impact on your life. Your workday will be shorter, and you’ll have more freedom, as well as a more flexible schedule.
However, with that increase in freedom comes an increase in responsibility. And to ensure that your productivity is where it needs to be, you need to know how to boost motivation within yourself.
Working from home isn’t as easy as you might think, but we’re here to help. By following these tips to stay motivated even when things get tough, you’ll be able to reap all of the benefits of remote work while avoiding the common pitfalls.
Have a Designated Workspace
One of the most impactful things you can do to boost motivation and productivity while working from home is to have a designated workspace within your home.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you have to have an entire room dedicated to your home office if you don’t have the room or the budget. However, you should avoid working from your couch or bed at all costs. This will do serious damage to your productivity and, in the long term, your mental health.
Your brain needs to be able to create strong associations between certain locations and certain activities. For example, reserving your bed for sleep only will allow your brain to create a strong association between your bed and sleep, giving you more restful nights’ sleep.
So whether you have a home office or simply work from your dining table, be sure to do so in the same place every day. And avoid working in areas used for sleep and relaxation.
Mix Up Your Environment
While building associations within your brain is important, but sometimes the best way to get motivated is to get a change of scenery! If you’re feeling uninspired by your workspace at home, there’s no harm in getting out for the day.
After all, one of the benefits of working from home is the freedom to work wherever you please. Take your laptop and other supplies to your local library, bookstore, or coffee shop and work there for an afternoon.
Experiment with different strategies until you find a schedule that works best for you. For example, you might work from home most of the time, but go out for an afternoon of work and coffee once a week. On the other hand, you might feel more motivated working in a public setting more often.
Schedule Your Day
Speaking of schedules, it’s essential to your motivation that you schedule out each day. When you work in a traditional office setting, you work from 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. Once again, this is a pattern of behavior that helps your brain shift into “work mode.”
As tempting as it can be to roll out of bed whenever you wake up that day, start work, and have no set stop time because you slept in, you’ll find it far more difficult to get into a rhythm this way.
Instead, have a time in your planner or calendar when you start and stop work each day. When the start time comes, you should be sitting at your desk, when it’s time to stop, do not keep working into the night.
Take Plenty of Breaks
We talked about your start and end time, now let’s talk about what goes in between. Because blocking out an 8-hour window and labeling it “work” isn’t good for anyone. Within this window, you need to make appointments for self-care.
This means scheduling an hour of your day for a healthy lunch, taking breaks often to prevent burn-out, and having a plan for those breaks. During these breaks, make sure that you get up from your desk and move around.
A great way to spend a break from work, for example, is to take a walk around the block. The movement combined with the vitamin D from the sun will give you an energy boost and leave you feeling great when you come back to your desk.
Eat the Frog
Don’t worry, we don’t mean eating an actual frog here. To eat the frog means to get the biggest, most difficult task of the day out of the way first. You have the most motivation, energy, and mental sharpness at the beginning of the day, you should take advantage of it!
Maybe you have a large project that you’ve been procrastinating with or a SAFe DevOps certification that you’ve been putting off, whatever the frog looks like for you, it’s time to check it off your to-do list.
Once you have that big, scary task out of the way, you’ll feel a sense of relief but also a great deal of motivation to continue on, as the rest of your tasks are much easier.
Boost Motivation and Productivity With This Guide
Many people who work from home report feeling happier and more productive in their day-to-day life. And you can too! If you know how to boost motivation and stay on task, you’ll find that conquering your workday is a breeze.
Best of all, once you’re done with your work, you’re already at home, giving you more time than ever to spend on the things and people you love most.
Looking for more tips and tricks for getting the most out of working from home? Be sure to check out our blog!