Working From Home Staying Motivated

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gnfb

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#160462 7-Jan-2015 16:49

I imagine that a lot of the people on this site are self employed and work from home? (Correct me if I am wrong freitasm)

Last night my son asked me how i use to, and to a degree still do , stay motivated to "go to work" and not spend the day cruising the interwebby (that's my word of the day for the Internet)

One way for me is a daily task schedule on onenote

what do you suggest?

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#1210047 7-Jan-2015 17:36

No tv in the room, setup an area/computer for work (with only what you need for work, no games etc installed), better if you have a room that you can just call it your office.
A task timer (like you are billing someone each hour), set it up for work projects and also add things like youtube/facebook etc

After doing that for a week you soon learn that you spend to much time on them, if you still do it then setup software to block it during work hours :P

timmmay

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#1210048 7-Jan-2015 17:39

Dedicated office. Aims for the day, week, and month. Keeping up the appearance of being busy is motivating, otherwise you may have to go back to the office. I actually get more done at home than at work due to fewer distractions and a clear goal for the day.

floydbloke

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#1210049 7-Jan-2015 17:40

I tend to work from home once or twice a month. Sometimes I do it to fit domestic/personal commitments/appointments in, other times because I need to get something done without interruptions.

Making a list of things I need to complete during that day at home is what keeps me focussed, and I usually find I get the work done in far less time than what it would take me to do it in the office - fewer interruptions. Once done I stay motivated by reminding myself that for (at least) 40 hours in a week they belong to my employer and are not mine what to do with. Do I digress occasionally to non-work-related stuff? Yes, at times...but that can happen in the office as well.

Sometimes I use big words I don't always fully understand in an effort to make myself sound more photosynthesis.

Sideface

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#1210052 7-Jan-2015 17:47

1. A separate work location / "office" in the house - used ONLY for work. No frills. No distractions.
2. A dedicated time period ONLY for work.
3. Discourage interruptions whilst you're in the "office". If you don't take it seriously, no-one else will.

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#1210072 7-Jan-2015 18:10

pretty sure Mauricio works in an office for a corporation somewhere... GZ is just his ... hobby?

Lias

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#1210074 7-Jan-2015 18:19

joker97: pretty sure Mauricio works in an office for a corporation somewhere... GZ is just his ... hobby?

I believe it was his fulltime job for a year or two, but he's been working for Intergen for 12-18 months now I think?

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itxtme

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#1210077 7-Jan-2015 18:29

I fail most days,

However at home I can work when I have been bad, and find often most productive after midnight! Must be the lack of GZ posts...

MikeB4

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#1210126 7-Jan-2015 19:11

A start and finish time, dedicated office and computer, lunch break and planning

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

Geektastic

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#1210130 7-Jan-2015 19:30

gnfb: I imagine that a lot of the people on this site are self employed and work from home? (Correct me if I am wrong freitasm)

Last night my son asked me how i use to, and to a degree still do , stay motivated to "go to work" and not spend the day cruising the interwebby (that's my word of the day for the Internet)

One way for me is a daily task schedule on onenote

what do you suggest?

Firstly, learn the rhythm you work best to. I like weekly to do lists not daily ones if given a choice (of course, some things need to be done today) as I like a flexible week and my work often permits it - if I have, say, marketing work to do it often does not matter if it is done on Tuesday or Thursday to be honest and I like that. Having had several fairly serious medical things (such as open heart surgery) it's good for me to work to the rhythm of my body - some days I just do not have the energy or motivation, so I learned over time to try and plan things so that if one of those days happens, I can read a book instead without it causing chaos.

I use a Day Book approach, which I learned from my first boss way back in the day - although now it has evolved into a 'Week Book' and a pen. Despite all the tech wizardry, I find that is still the best way for me to jot notes from calls, add and delete tasks etc. I'm trying a week view Moleskine/Evernote diary this year. The diary is designed to work with the Evernote iPhone app and be snapped and OCR'd in Evernote. We shall see if it is a good blend of old tech and new tech!

Mostly I adopt the Google approach - if I want to stop work and relax for an hour, I do so. Of course the corollary of that is that many times I find I need to work Saturday or Sunday or public holiday or at 11pm or whatever instead but that does not bother me at all.

richms

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#1210134 7-Jan-2015 19:56

Seperate PC, Seperate desk.

If you want to screw around, go to the gaming PC to do it. Work on the work PC.

Richard rich.ms

SumnerBoy

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#1210140 7-Jan-2015 20:18

I have been working remotely for a UK based firm for 11 years now, and for all but about 12 months of that time at the beginning, I have been working from home. I didn't have much of a choice I guess, since there was no office to go into, even if I wanted to! But I was/am on a good wicket and didn't want to screw up the opportunity by taking the pi$$ and not working my hours. So I guess that was my motivation to start with ;). But once I had been doing it for a few months/years I just got into a rhythm and now it is second nature.

Like most have suggested already, I have a separate 'office' where I have a nice big desk, comfortable chair, and my dedicated work PC. That room is used for work and only work. I agree this is probably the most important thing - you need to 'feel' like you are at work when you sit down at your computer and conversely 'feel' like you have finished for the day when you get up and leave. If you have a desk/PC in your living room this would be very difficult I think.

I get asked ALL the time how I keep motivated but I really just find it 'normal' now. I love the freedom of working from home and think I will struggle to adjust having to commute into an office and work in that environment again if/when that happens in the future.

I also believe that it is better suited to some people than others. YMMV.

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ech3lon

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#1210142 7-Jan-2015 20:21

Another vote for separate work room with minimal/officey furniture.

This is the main reason why I still go to office on some days instead of rdp'ing to work machine everyday.

richms

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#1210147 7-Jan-2015 20:35

And if you have a home phone, it stays out of the office area, and you ignore it ringing when you are the only one home during the day.

Richard rich.ms

khull

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#1210213 7-Jan-2015 22:28

It also depends on the job role/function - we had a developer that claimed to work from home 2 days a week. It was a disaster for the project with multiple vendors.
I would certainly ban people who are in 'project' work from working remotely. Some BAU tasks can be done at home, usually repetitive or routine maintenance tasks.

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#1210217 7-Jan-2015 22:44

Depends on the individual - I do all kinds of different project work from home, including design and development.

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