How to stay motivated while working from home

Remote work is hard sometimes, let’s face it.

The hardest thing in the world right now feels like trying to concentrate for 6, 7, 8 hours while working from your own home’s comfort. You might be struggling with the difference of having one less monitor, or you might prefer the office environment.

For a little helping hand, here are a few tips to stay motivated while working from home:

Assemble your work environment as if you were working from the office

The most comforting thing you can do for your brain (No, we don’t mean working in your bed!) is to mirror the setup you have at the office. If that means investing in a desk, do it!

You’re probably going to work remotely for a while if your employer isn’t ushering you back to the office yet. Why not invest the money you may have saved on commuting to and from the office on something more rewarding? Get yourself off the sofa, away from the bed, and convert your working environment into a state that you are more focused.

For example, one of our team members got a new standing desk and told us that this was one of the best investments. He feels more energized, motivated, and overall feels better.

Dress up the same way you would for work normally

Working in your PJs isn’t going to get you in the mood for those morning emails.

Even when working from home, making an effort to get dressed should make you less likely to want to crawl back into bed. Instead, you’ll feel pumped to get your day started well. Wearing work clothes will also help you keep your routine in place. As we all know, working from home cuts out the usual parts, like preparing meals for the day, packing a bag, and locking up.

Tidy up the favorites bar in your web browser

Now, the only way you might have bypassed this tip is if you have a virtual desktop. A virtual desktop gives you the same setup you would access from work usually, and all you need is a login key to get onto your work “desktop display.”

If you don’t have that, you might want to marry up your favorites folder in the best possible way. Staying motivated is all about having things conveniently located to get each part of your work done. If your most-used websites and applications aren’t visible on the browser you use when working from home, make them available!

Catch up with your colleagues

Now don’t take this literally – We don’t recommend you actually meet your colleagues in person for your breaks, especially if you are under some coronavirus related restrictions.

We mean having a Zoom call, message them on your chat group, on Facebook, WhatsApp, Teams, etc. If you stay connected to your colleagues, it can give you that motivation boost when working for a dedicated team. Working alone anyway can get depressing, so having that company for an hour a day can improve your mindset for work.

Deal with interruptions

We all want to work six hours concentrated and get work done. Unless you are some superhuman, this is not feasible. If you work from home with your family and have kids, there is sadly always an interruption.

Let’s face it, your kids will always interrupt, your dog needs a walk, and if it’s not your dog, then your cat needs some pets. Besides, you need to eat and take breaks. Without it, you will get irritated, and work will suffer. 

As sooner as you accept this reality, the better you will work and stay mentally healthy.

From our own experience, and at Helpmonks, everyone works from home; it is best to communicate when you are available and when you are not available. Like this, everyone knows when they can approach you, and when it’s not a good time.

We hope these tips help. Let us know in the comments. If you want to ask something, please do that too. Stay safe.