Hello dear! Are you working from home and often feeling bored? restless? uninspired? Or perhaps an hour or two has passed and it seems like you haven’t made any substantive progress on whatever you are working on? Do you find yourself checking social media every now and then in the middle of a workday? Okay! I know how that feels. So I wrote this to empower you to feel more motivated, excited and productive thus less bored when working from home.
So let’s dive deep:
Develop and abide by a healthier morning routine :
Daily habits make all the differences while working from home: whether you are a full remote worker, a freelancer or recent event have forced you to work from you: you need to develop a healthy morning routine to get your groove on.
If you formally wake up just to rush to the bathroom to get freshened up for work while you eat your breakfast on your way to work or perhaps skip it every now and then, it’s time to develop better morning routines that can support not only your productivity but also your health. While you are working from home now, commit to waking up half an hour earlier than usual to practice better morning rituals like prayers and meditation, yoga or workouts, journaling your ideas and thoughts, making healthier breakfast and being grateful for another chance at life. Use this time to develop and practice that which you used to say you never have time for because you need to go to work; you may just realize after this whole madness is over that was an excuse to let you discover a better you!
Have a shower and dress up for work:
Are you thinking in your head, is she serious? I am working from home and she’s telling me to get dressed??!! Yes, I am serious; I have been working from home for about 2.5years now and I know there is a different level of motivation and seriousness that sets in when you wake up, have a shower and dress up for work; even though your workstation may just be your couch next door.
I know you may be working from home, it may feel a little weird or perhaps deliberately awesome! And you are tempted to work in your pyjamas every day for however long or short this may last; trust me after 2-3 days you begin to feel anxious, easily distracted and not very motivated if you do not manage yourself well. Plus if there is a higher likelihood that after the lockdown you will be resuming to your full-time job, you better not lose your mojo!
Get over your anxiety for phone calls
You will need to get comfortable calling people up. The testing won’t work most of the time and can get you woke up for no reason. So schedule and communicate time to have phone conversations with people who matter to you and those whom you may be working with. This will enable you to swiftly get things done rather than be waiting all day for a text reply. Also remember that some people are at the office working and not everyone’s work schedule is flexible to pick up your call: so don’t get worked out because someone didn’t pick up immediately.
Create and abide by a strict work schedule
Do you find yourself overworking when we are working from home? Well, you are not alone. I struggle with this as well. However by setting a specific number of hours and period to work every day: I become more productive, have more energy and excitement to enjoy the day fully thus hardly get bored. I understand If you find being in control of your income because you work for yourself and from home can tempt you to work all the time because you can, but this is not healthy. So, create a work routine to have time to nurture other parts of your life that matter and give you a sense of fulfilment.
Try Virtual coworking
Do you have colleagues or friends who are also working from home? Try virtual coworking; it’s simply the act of setting up a specific time of day where your group comes online via video to co-work like you would if you were all in the same physical space. It is most effective when you share your daily work objectives and goals with one another so you can motivate and hold each other accountable. It is also effective if you are coworking on a project together that needs real-time updates and feedback; the use of simple coworking applications like google drive, asana or Trello alongside virtual coworking can be very effective in getting results faster without the need of going back and forth emails or calls.
Choose some days every week to work elsewhere other than from home
You want to create a balance between working alone and being in total self-isolation. Whether you are a remote business owner, a freelancer, a remote worker working with teams; every week take out at least a day or 2 to work elsewhere other than home. Walk into a co-working space; coffee shops, hotel lobbies, restaurants or perhaps go to a public park if you’re abroad to get some work done in a different atmosphere. It steers up your creativity, allows you to meet new people and gain a fresh perspective. Don’t take my word for it: try it and discover for yourself.
I know there is Covid19 now so I do not recommend this at the moment: but if you regularly work from home you should definitely try this.
Analyze your relationship and the things you allow in your space
Who is in your life? What kind of friends? colleagues? Family do you have? What’s their ideologies and how grateful, optimistic, uplifting and dedicated to excellence are they? Sometimes the people we keep and allow in our lives can affect our mental and emotional wellbeing: so do a regular relationship audit. The same applies to your physical and online space? What kind of content do you consume? Is it uplifting and full of positivity ? or is it that which makes you angry, bitter, jealous or anxious? Audit your space and you will find more joy and light to get you hardly feeling bored whether you are working from home or not.
Join Online Groups for people who equally work from anywhere
When you are working from home, having a community is very important since you may not have one physically available you can find some online and build great connections. Remember virtual coworking? You can find buddies online to do so with. You can build relationships, learn other productivity tips, have a community and simply connect with others who are in a similar state as you are to foster exciting and empowering ways to make your work from home amazing. I will write a list of these.
Set yourself a target with rewards
Yoo! A reward doesn’t have to be a walk to the fridge every 20 mins. Lol! But more seriously set little targets every day and rejoice when you hit them. Rewarding yourself can be a simple 5 mins break to see the sun, to put your feet in cold ice water or massage your neck. Setting small targets can reduce your boredom while working from home since it’s easy to just focus on one big goal that may seem so far fetched.
Schedule face to face meetups with your friends at least once a month (if you live in the same city/country)
If you don’t find locals top meetup with or other travellers who may be working remotely too.
Get creative with your home workspace
Environment matters! Make it lively and vibrant: let it feel like work is fun as much as it is serious. Get creative, use uplifting colours, places things that remind you of happy moments, achievements and that will keep you motivated. For me its small pieces of souvenirs I collect from countries I travelled to and loved the most. I also enjoy having bright white reflect in every corner of my home, white reminds me of my ability to create anything I want, it’s like a clean slate every time I sit on my home workstation: it feels motivating and exciting so I hardly get bored. But when I do I take a break, check-in with myself, sometimes I even take a nap or a shower to recharge then restart over again. You need to find what works for you and use it to make your work from home incredibly lively and exciting.
Have a work music playlist
Do you have a favourite artist or type of music that makes you flow? Curate a playlist to add spice to your work from home routine. I recently started this and it feels amazing! I love the sound of the ocean, the tickle of rain, strings of the Kora African traditional instruments while I work. Find what makes you flow and keep curating your playlist: that takes you to many different countries and eras and make you feel alive! get that mojo back sis! bro!
I hope this helps you or someone you know! Sharing is caring, use the button below to share on your social media or email to a friend.
Happy work from work!
