Staying motivated when working from home is just as essential as when being at the office. While many jobs offer flexibility, whether as an employee or a manager, it is sometimes challenging to remain motivated when working long hours or when having a difficult day ahead.
Other than that, keeping free of distractions is not easy when working from home and it’s therefore not always easy to be productive all the time, staying therefore motivated.
According to a survey by Employee Benefit, 25% of employees lack motivation at work because of poor career progression. In addition, 24% said their company doesn’t give regular recognition, 21% said their work-life balance isn’t good enough, and 18% said they lack challenges at work.
Now that you know the reasons why employees don’t feel motivated at work, let’s jump into the solutions. In this article, we will list 9 of the absolute best ways to stay motivated when working from home. Whether you’re the CEO of a startup, a regional director, or an agent working remotely, this article is for you.
Wake up Early
Waking up early can have lots of health benefits, allows you to get prepared for work, but also to be happier and earn more money. First of all, it gives you more time to exercise, read important emails, or even wake up with a healthy breakfast.
Secondly, many successful company directors, CEOs, and managers wake up early and get a lot of benefits out of it.
In fact, research by Harvard Business Review revealed that waking up early and success at work or at school might be related. In fact, other than leading to better grades at school, it can also make you earn more money at work.
Moreover, another study by biologist Christoph Randler at research by Harvard Business Review found, in 2008, that early birds are more proactive and therefore tend to be more productive at work.
Moreover, a report by Boldsky revealed that stretching, keeping your phone away, and washing your face with cold water will make you feel refreshed when waking up.
In conclusion, get up early, take time to eat a healthy breakfast, enjoy a cup of coffee, turn on your computer, take in some fresh air, and get properly ready for a new day ahead.
Get properly dressed
Getting properly dressed for work can help you feel that you’re actually going to work and that’s only one reason why you should get out of your pajamas. In fact, it makes you feel better with yourself,
You don’t need to be professionally dressed just like at the office, however, it certainly makes a difference to wear a pair of jeans and a shirt, rather than sleeping shorts and your old t-shirt.
A study by Stormline revealed that 61% of employees are more productive when their company’s dress code is relaxed. Take the opportunity to work from home to dress properly, to wear a nice pair of jeans, a shirt and jacket that you like, and you’ll suddenly feel more productive and better with yourself.
Getting dressed when working from home also makes you more productive, and that’s one another reason to consider doing it from today.
Plan some personal time every day
Planning personal time for yourself during the day is an essential tip to stay motivated when working from home.
A study by 2 researchers Viktorija Tauraite and Zigmas Lydeka found that employees in Lithuania spend nearly 6 hours at work every day, with almost 4 hours of leisure, and just 16 minutes studying.
Personal time is incredibly important to avoid anxiety, depression, burnout, and any kind of mental health-related issues. While almost 4 hours a day of leisure might sound a lot, it’s actually very important for yourself, your well-being, and to remain motivated while working from home.
Research by Samsung revealed that 75% spend up to 60 minutes every working day doing personal errands such as paying bills or internet banking. Also, 86% of Italians are likely to do personal tasks at work, with 65% of them spending 45 minutes every day on social media.
Planning some personal time every day (preferably during your breaks or after work) will allow you to remain motivated, to look forward to something, and to change your mind. You will come back at your desk after a break or the next day refreshed and full of energy.
Last but not least, a good way to spend some personal time is to invest in yourself, and this brings us to the following point.
Invest in yourself
Investing in yourself is one of the things to stay motivated while working from home that you should start doing now. Learn a new skill, study statistics to improve your knowledge, or read self-improvements books.
Websites such as Udemy, Skillshare, or Coursera can definitely help in acquiring new skills in a short amount of time without having to follow a course at school and spending a few dollars only.
Megan Tull, a Business Strategist at the Huffington Post, covered the best ways to invest in herself. From reading educational books and investing in her confidence to setting goals and working on her bucket list, remaining motivated is her ultimate goal.
Farshad Asl, Regional Director at Bankers Life, shared his experience of investing in yourself. He said, “Believing and investing in yourself is the best way to shift your thinking from a paradigm of excuses to one of solutions.”
We can all relate to what he said and start investing in ourselves in one of the best ways to remain motivated and happy when working from home.
To conclude, investing in yourself is a fantastic way to remain motivated while working from home. Whether you choose to learn a new reusable skill, to work on your confidence or public speaking, or even learning a new language, the possibilities are endless.
Follow your schedule
Following your schedule is an important thing to do to stay motivated when working from home. Not only does it allow you to prioritize your tasks, but also to get more organized and finish your shift on time with no delays. Also, becoming disorganized and distracted is easy and following a schedule will definitely help avoid losing time.
The 2020 State of Remote Work by Buffer revealed that the number one biggest benefit of working remotely is the ability to have a flexible schedule. Take the opportunity to work from home to prepare your schedule, prioritize your workload, and start the week the right way.
Dr. Prem Jagyasi, a renowned author and speaker, once talked about his schedule and time management. He shared “Time management is all about distinguishing between what is important for you and what simply lures you into useless activities.”
In conclusion, preparing your schedule and following it will help you remain productive and motivated when working from home.
Prioritize your workload
Setting priorities is some of the essential ideas to stay motivated in the long run that we can’t recommend enough. In fact, it helps to stay organized, feel that you’re in control of what you’re going to do that day, and ultimately deliver results on time.
In addition, it can help reduce stress, get more focused, and have a better work-life balance in the long term.
A report by Business.com discovered that companies’ top performers spent on average 60% of their time on important activities. As a rule of thumb, employees spend 20-30% of their time on top-priority tasks, 30-40% on important ones, 20-25% on administrative tasks, and finally 5% on miscellaneous working tasks.
The same report found that the dedicated time to plan your week should be 2.5 hours. While it might sound a lot, it will help prioritize tasks, save lots of time, and make you feel more productive and motivated, especially when working from home.
Learn to prioritize your tasks from urgent and important to not urgent, and you’ll be on your way to achieve great productivity and motivation results.
Go outside
Going outside is an incredible way to stay productive when working remotely, but also to remain focused. While 2020 isn’t exactly the best year to advise going out, however, if you’re in isolation, you might still be able to get in your garden, right outside your door, or simply in nature where no one else is.
Going outside allows you to get in some fresh air, go for a quick run, get less anxious, and also improves your sleep quality.
A research by Ambius found that only 35% of American workers spend 15 minutes of their time outside (excluding commuting times). Another 13% spend a maximum of 30 minutes per day out of their house, and finally 26% spend an hour outside their home 1 hour every day.
As you can see, the amount of time spent outside is in general not high, and should be the opposite. The more time you spend outside exercising, taking in some fresh air, and clearing your mind, the more motivated you’ll become.
Block distracting websites
Blocking distracting websites is a very effective way to remain motivated while working from home. In fact,
A survey by Spiceworks discovered that employees in companies that don’t restrict any websites spend at least 4 hours per week on non-work related websites.
Another study by TheBestVPN found that over 80% of staff members (employees and managers) bypass the website restrictions for personal use during their break.
Also, 25.1% bypass the restrictions to procrastinate, and 35.6% to take care of small errands.
These are numbers that need to be looked at closely and considered. While they can be mainly distracting, they can also be demotivating in the long term.
Exercise and be happy
Exercising on a weekly basis is not only good for your body and mind, but it’s also great to become happier, healthier, and more motivated in the long run. In fact, exercising has many health benefits such as helping you control your weight, reduce your risk of heart disease, and improve your mental health and overall mood. Needless to say that working out will definitely make you stay motivated when working from home.
A report by ExerciseRight who studied about 200 workers found that 30 to 60 minutes of exercise during their lunch break had an average performance increase of 15%.
In addition, companies with better workplace health programs can save them as much as 4 times the investment. These programs can result in 25% decrease in sick leave, but also in 24% decrease in disability management costs.
thedarknut / Pixabay
If finding 30 minutes to exercise during your lunch break is impossible, there are some ways to train yourself directly from your workspace.
A blog post by ESI – Employee Assistance Group showed easy exercises that can be done on your chair at your desk. Whether you work from home, at the office, or remotely, these are easy movements that will definitely make you feel better with yourself.
To sum up, exercising will help companies and employees stay healthy, happy, and healthy when working from home!
Essential Ways to Stay Motivated When Working From Home – Conclusion
These were the 9 essential ways to stay motivated when working from home that you should know about. Remaining positive and motivated is an important side of the corporate world that should never be underestimated, both for personal and business reasons.
If you’re a manager, we highly recommend creating corporate incentives. In fact, a research by Hawk Incentives found that 66% of employees would feel more motivated at work when a corporate incentive program was offered internally.
From waking up early and investing in yourself to exercising and taking fresh air outside, these are essential ways to end up more productive, healthy, and happier in the longer term.
To conclude, follow these 9 tips to stay motivated when working from home and you’ll see a significant difference to what you were at before.
If one of your friends or coworkers feel demotivated when working at home, don’t hesitate to share this post with them to make them feel more valued and more positive!
