Motivating yourself can be hard, whether you’re working from the office or working from home. Working around others has its own set of challenges and working from home has another. When you’re working around others, an element of comparison always sets in and you find yourself comparing what you’ve done with what they’ve done. When you’re working at home, you only have yourself to compare yourself with but it can be tough to motivate yourself to keep going. Here are some tips:
Visualize
When you’re in your own space, you can always put up pictures that help you to visualize doing your work. Or if you prefer not to put up pictures, try browsing through Pinterest because it has thousands of photos of people engaged in doing different things.
The idea is to pick photos in which the person is doing what you’re doing and seems to be happy doing it. Or you can just look at photos of home offices which appeal to you. Or if, for example, you’re a writer, a photo of books, a cup of coffee and some flowers can make you feel good about what you’re doing. In this way, you can surround yourself with images of something relevant to your field of work.
Relax
When you’ve finished what you wanted to do for the day, it’s time to kick back and relax. Even when you’re at home, you can do this with a cup of coffee or tea and a mystery novel. Or watch your favorite TV show with a bowl of popcorn.
Just try to make sure that your relaxation is not the mindless kind. Don’t watch something that is badly made and addictive, like a soap opera or a reality TV show which strikes you as sensationalistic. This might help you to tune out, but it won’t really make you feel energized when you get back to work.