Working from home is the dream for most employees. But it’s not always as glamorous as it seems. If you do manage to quit your day job and work from home you can easily find yourself without motivation. It’s easy to get distracted by TV, chores, and your family. This can lead to serious problems for your home business if you let it. Keep reading and I’ll give you some advice for staying motivated when working at home.
The first thing you should do is designate a certain part of your home to being your home office. The only purpose for this area is for you to work. It’s not a place to eat, it’s not a place to play games. This is where you go when you need to get work done and only when you get work done.
You should also explain to your family that just because you’re home, doesn’t mean you’re not working. It’s hard for a lot of people to understand that, but if you don’t make them understand it, they’re just going to keep interrupting you and killing your productivity. And that’s going to be the last thing you want.
Set regular work hours for yourself. Working at home means you can work whenever you want, but you still need to work sometime. So whether you do better in the morning, the afternoon, or at night, you need to set yourself some work hours. You don’t need to work an eight hour shift if you don’t want to though. You can work two hours in the morning, two hours in the afternoon, and then four hours at night. Do whatever works best for you.
The thing you need to keep in mind is that during whatever hours you set, you’re at work. During these hours it’s the same as if you were at the office. You’re not “home,” you’re at work. This means chores can wait, the dog can entertain itself, and someone else can worry about dinner. You need to completely devote yourself to work during these hours.
Just because you can work in your pajamas, doesn’t mean you should. It’s been proven that getting up, getting a shower, and putting on normal clothes does a lot to improve your frame of mind. It’ll help your mind realize that it’s now work time instead of relax time. You’d be amazed at how much this one little change can increase your productivity.
You can also try listening to some upbeat music while you work to give yourself a little bit of extra energy during the day. But if you’re the type of person to get easily distracted by the music, I’d find something else to keep you alert and energized!
No matter what your home business revolves around, productivity is going to be an important part of it. If you’re not able to stay motivated and be productive, your home business won’t last long. So take this advice to heart and kick some butt!
