How to Stay Motivated When Working at Home
When you work at home, there are many challenges you must face. For many people, the biggest problem they must master when working from home is how to stay motivated all the time. If you are searching for tips on how to stay motivated when working from home, keep on reading.
The idea of working from home, or being location independent sounds great. But to stay day after day in your own bubble fully focused is not that easy, and sooner or later you'll come across difficulties that you either master and you will be able to continue, or you will fail (that is ok, working from home is not for everyone), and your work life will go on in a different direction.
Probably one of the most difficult things in remote work is the question of how to stay motivated.
Staying motivated when working from home is much harder.
You do not need to arrive in an office at a certain time, it is not necessary to get dressed and commute to work, and no boss will tell you what to do, there is no one else who would set deadlines to get work done either.
Even though it might seem that being independent could not be easier, we are actually aware that many people need external motivation, something that pushes them to get the best results.
But when you work from home, it must be you and your self-motivation that keeps you going.
The phase of being super-excited by your newly acquired freedom will wear off quite soon, and if you plan on working remotely for a longer period of time, you will have to learn how to stay motivated, effective, and inspired.
No matter how much we want our online business to be successful, and no matter how financially dependent we are on success, staying motivated every single day, is a real challenge. You cannot just pretend the work and wait for the end of your work hours. There is no one you can hoodwink, only yourself.
It is a bit terrifying to be creative every day without knowing if your strategy will work in the future.
We also do not see the results of our work immediately, which definitely does not help the motivation. If you won't work 100%, you will see the fruits of your labor on your next paycheck.
But sometimes even these very real threads do not work.
That's why we've decided to share with you our trick and tips to stay motivated.
Simply put, we've put together all the things that help us when working remotely. How to stay motivated when working from home?
CREATE A DAILY ROUTINE
There are days when we do not feel motivated at all. It usually comes once in ten to fourteen days (usually on Fridays).
We feel the lack of enthusiasm, the idea of sitting behind the desk for several hours, and the necessity to write a new post that should be written engagingly, while ensuring the post will have a good SEO and rank high on Google becomes a burden, and we feel burnt out.
One of the pros of working from home is flexibility, and since we are freelancers working just for ourselves, sometimes instead of being unproductive, we take a cheat day off.
But as we do not want this to become a habit, and we are conscious people, we often have to beat these feelings.
What helps us best to stay motivated?
We have created a daily routine that we follow, and this system ensures we stay on the correct path.
Creating a daily routine is important not only to stay organized while working remotely but also when you need to stay motivated.
Even when you are too tired or you just do not feel like working (we believe this happens in a regular job as well), you need to have a plan and stick to it. Make a clear plan for the next day every evening.
Write down all tasks you would like to finish, break them down to more blocks so you can tick them off your list one by one.
Do not overstretch yourself and your expectations, the setting of the plan must be realistic.
What works best for us is to start the day with an excercise, and then we never skip cooking lunch as regular breaks are very important.
You'll see that a routine helps you get through the day more easily, you will have a goal to reach that day, which will keep you self-motivated.
DESIGN A COMFORTABLE HOME OFFICE
An uninspiring work environment will hardly keep you motivated for long. The advantage of working remotely is that you can design your workspace, and you can make sure that you will feel there comfortable.
If you are looking for where to start, we've written a post on how to organize your desk, but that's just the beginning.
Invest in a quality desk, office chair, be surrounded by things that support your creativity.
All those small details count.
Trust us, it is a huge difference to work from a place where you feel the positive vibes.
Nowadays, we work from our bright and warm flat in Prague, but there were days when we worked on the road from a small, cold, windowless hostel rooms in the mountains, for example in Peru or Bolivia, and it was much harder to make the job done.
An office where you immediately feel the rush of ideas and where you do not need to push yourself hard every day just to get stuff done is priceless.
GET IN THE ZONE AND STAY THERE AS LONG AS POSSIBLE
To stay motivated long-term, you need to learn how to get to the zone and how to be persistent. As content creators, who work all day long from home, we know how easy a person can get distracted.
Therefore, when we are about to write a new post, we usually make a draft of the future article, then Martin puts his headphones on, I, on the contrary, close the doors to ensure there will be quiet in my room, and we start to work.
It usually takes a while until we get in the zone, but once we get there, we are able to work nonstop for several hours as we do not want to break it.
You really need to learn how to get to the zone and learn how it looks like when the moment is coming.
Because once you will know how it feels like, you will be more motivated as you will know that when in the zone, you are capable of doing many things, usually faster and much smarter than you would have without fully focusing on your task.
GO OUTSIDE
It is impossible to be motivated and fully committed to your work 24/7. You are not a robot.
We are 100% sure that fresh air, at least once a day, helps people to maintain mental and physical health and that it is a huge factor that keeps us going.
What we practice every day? In the morning we go jogging for an hour.
When we come back home, we take a shower, and then we feel very refreshed and motivated to do as much work as possible.
Also, in the afternoon, after four or five hours of sitting behind the desk, we feel that our self-motivation lowers, and our brains do not function the same way as in the morning, simply put, we are tired.
That's why it is time to go outside again, forget about the work for a while, and stretch our bodies.
When we return, we usually make dinner, and depending on how productive we were during the day, we either work for a bit longer, or we just call it a day.
We cannot imagine staying motivated when working from home without going outside, and we recommend you to make this habit your everyday routine.
KNOW YOUR LIMITS
It might sound really obvious, but it is necessary to set your expectations right. It is ok to push your limits, but it is just not possible in a long-term view.
To stay motivated, you have to find out what you are able to do in six to eight hours of work, and stick to it.
Do not underestimate your limits on purpose, as you would easily become lazy, but also do not try to fit in your daily schedule too many things.
If you are just about to start working remotely, of course, you cannot know what you are capable of, how long a single task can take to finish.
Finding your limits takes time.
Nothing demotivates people like wrongly set expectations. If from day one you will feel that you are behind schedule, you will hardly be enthusiastic about your work, and you will hardly stay motivated.
It took us approximately a year to find out what is the right amount of work for one day. I am usually able to write a post about 3000 words long in one day, but it, of course, depends on a topic.
If I need to research more information about a destination, it is for sure harder then when I write about my personal experience on things I know by heart.
So when I know that the next day I'll be writing about a city's history, I simply know that even 2000 words will be fine per day, and I adjust my limits.
I also know that my productivity is lower on Fridays (or when I work four to five days in a row), that's why on that day I assign easier tasks and usually write longer and more complex articles at the beginning of the week.
HAVE A POSITIVE MINDSET
Everything goes much easier when you look at it positively. A positive mindset is half of the success.
When you have your own business, things often do not go as planned.
It would have been too simple, right?
When you look at everything through a black veil, we would be very surprised if you would have been able to stay motivated for a long time.
Even when you have concerns about whether working remotely was the right choice, and whether you will be able to make it financially, try to keep a positive mindset.
We are not saying you should fool yourself, but always have in mind why have you started and what you want to achieve.
When you have set your goals realistically, it will be much easier to fulfill them, have a positive mindset, and stay super-motivated.
REALIZE YOUR SUCCESSES, SET MILESTONES AND REWARD YOURSELF
From time to time, everyone needs to hear words of praise. When working remotely, there are often several things missing when we compare it with regular jobs.
One of those things is that you must set your goals yourself.
But probably the hardest part is that when you successfully finish a task, there is no official closure, and no one, who would express approval of your hard work.
Finishing tasks successfully, rewarding ourselves, taking a break, and then starting with a new project should be a natural process that also helps you to stay motivated.
It is impossible to keep working nonstop without a goal in mind.
Set short-term and long-term goals, and when you achieve them, take a break for a bit, enjoy the moment, embrace your success.
We feel it is very important to us to realize the success, there is always a goal we want to reach, and that's why we are so driven and self-motivated.
Without the milestones we want to reach, the excitement of the 'game' would wear off, and it would be much harder to stay motivated if there was nothing to achieve.
And what can be a reward for your hard work?
Well, it can be anything that you like. An extra day off so you can take a trip, you can treat yourself and go shopping, or enjoy a nice meal in a restaurant with your loved ones.
Let your imagination run wild.
DON'T ALLOW YOUR FAILURES TAKE YOU DOWN
During several years of blogging and working from home, we've definitely gone through ups and downs. We think that every single person goes through many stages during the work life, and not all of them are positive ones.
To be honest, there were many moments during those past years when the things didn’t go the way we wanted. In these times, we even considered to give up.
But it does not matter whether failures on your career path are caused by your mistake or by something else you cannot influence. If you are really passionate about your business, there is one simple rule.
Do not allow (your) failures to take you down.
Sure, there will be hard times, and moments when you will think this is it, I cannot carry on anymore, but when such a moment comes, take a break, get some sleep, do your hobby with your favorite person, and let your thoughts sink.
After some time you will see things in a new way. It will help you not to give up, and you will get back on track faster and better than you were.
BALANCE YOUR WORK AND PERSONAL LIFE
Work is not everything.
Really.
Without your personal life, your work life won't be that successful, and staying motivated will be much harder.
Even though we know that when working from home your business deserves a countless number of hours and constant care, it is essential to enjoy a time off either.
If you are not good at time management when working from home yet, set an alarm clock, so you will know when it is time to stop working and start taking care of your personal life.
If you work from home and your partner works in an office, try to synchronize your schedule, so you know when he or she gets home, it is time to put your work stuff aside.
Life-work balance is a hard task, but once you learn how to unwind and take a rest, you will be much better at your work, and thanks to it, you will be enthusiastic, more efficient, and therefore more motivated.
DO ACTIVITIES RELATED TO YOUR WORK THAT PLEASES YOU
We know there are many jobs that a person can do from home. For us, the biggest advantage of working at home is not that we actually can work remotely, but because our job is also our hobby.
We write about traveling and work-life balance, and the best thing is that we can do it in practice in our free time as well.
What makes us then so motivated all the time?
We love traveling. Last time we were in Jordan for a week, then we sat at home for a month and wrote one post after another about our journey.
And it felt amazing.
We did not have to push ourselves to create content, it was super-natural, and we were excited we could combine our two hobbies together. What are we trying to say here?
You should be always doing what you enjoy, in both personal and work life, and if possible, you should try to combine these two worlds.
To give you an example. Are you into finance? Then visit workshops in your free time.
These activities related to your work will make you smarter, you won't get stuck in one place, you will benefit from it later, and then you will be motivated to be even better.
SOCIALIZE FROM TIME TO TIME
Working remotely can be lonely, and many people can start feeling desperate because of the lack of social contact.
Yes, many people go to work to socialize, and we know that the right collective of colleagues can also motivate you for better results.
Even though you work from home, it is important not to lose contact with the outside world. If you work for a company, only from home, it is easier, because you will still be in touch with your coworkers via emails, Skype, or phone calls.
It is for sure not ideal, nothing can replace the personal contact, but it is better than nothing. If you are your own employee, it is compulsory to get out of your bubble, and still find time to meet with your friends and family.
Thanks to it, you will get new energy, and you will feel super-motivated in doing what you do.
Meeting other people who have different lifestyle will also give you that much-needed perspective, and it will help you realize whether you are happy with remote work, and you can evaluate whether you are able to sufficiently motivate yourself, eventually you will discover flaws.
CONNECT WITH SAME MINDED PEOPLE
Sometimes it is hard to stay motivated when you do not have around you people you can discuss your work issues with.
It is much easier for us as we work as a couple, but even then it is great to be a part of a community that knows all the struggles and often has answers to your questions.
Fortunately, nowadays there are many online groups you can join where you can seek same-minded people.
We used these groups a lot when we were starting the blog as we did not have an idea what we are doing, but even today we enjoy from time to time chatting with people who have similar problems, and who deal with the same difficulties.
The easiest way how to find same-minded people is to log on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and search for topics you are interested in.
ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND WHY YOU'VE STARTED
When you get to a stage when it feels you ran out of your motivation, and you think there is no point in carrying on, grab a paper, and write down the reasons why you've started working remotely in the first place.
Was it that you were seeking freedom?
Did you want to be financially independent? Did you want to have more time for your friends and family? Were you craving a life-work balance?
We are pretty sure that you will always find one more reason to continue that will kick-start your passion and you will re-ignite your motivation.
RESOURCES
So what programs we use to keep Laidbacktrip running?
The absolutely necessary expense is purchasing the domain and paying for hosting.
We opted for Squarespace, an all-in-one solution as we like it is clean and straightforward.
But the most popular option among bloggers is Bluehost because you can install Wordpress.org on it.
In the beginning, we were reluctant to pay more for external services.
But we later found that some of them are necessary, and some of them make our work much more comfortable.
We use a professional email, Tailwind that helps us schedule pins for Pinterest and Instagram.
As we use only our own photos, Adobe Creative Cloud that is an excellent tool for editing photos in Lightroom and Photoshop is a must-have.
To improve our writing skills we use Grammarly Premium.
It all costs several hundred dollars per year, but it helps us with our business.
