Post # 1
Member
144 posts
Blushing bee
Do you ever have a hard time staying motivated?
I work from home full-time. I’m on the payroll of a great company doing marketing-related stuff, and they tell me all the time that I’m doing a great job. Thing is, I know I could be doing soo much more. And I want to. But there are just so many more interesting things. Like WeddingBee! Even though I’m already married!
I don’t have the option of spending any time in the office because the office is 12 hours away. I was moving and they wanted to keep me on staff so I took my job with me. It’s awesome, but it’s also hard!
Any tips or tricks to keep motivated when working from home???
Post # 3
Member
823 posts
Busy bee
- Wedding: April 2011 - The Tribute Golf Club
It can be really hard to stay motivated when working remote. I try to schedule things like calls for my projects and online training to keep on track/motivated.
Post # 4
Member
5493 posts
Bee Keeper
Designate a work space in your home. tell yourself that when you are in that space it is the same as being in the office.
Post # 5
Member
10216 posts
Sugar Beekeeper
Definitely dedicate a work space. You may also try sitting at a desk and even getting dressed for work to make it feel more like work. I on the other hand do none of what I just mentioned lol!!!!! What works for me is a schedule. I wake up check emails, burning issues etc, then I take a nap for a few hours, go to work for a few hours, watch tv for a few, work again for a few etc. It breaks up the day while still getting work done.
Post # 6
Member
1184 posts
Bumble bee
I work from home full time as well. Like you, I get really positive feedback on my performance all the time, which makes it hard to improve my (not so great) working habits. I definitely do not put in 40 hours a week. On the other hand, when I think about all the time that was wasted when I worked in-office – socializing with coworkers, meetings that turned into 3 hours of talking about nothing, lunch breaks, etc, I never truly worked 40 hours a week then either, I was just in the office. I’ve been working from home almost a full year now and I’d say that at this point I can get what I used to do in an 8 hour work day done in 2-4 hours.
As for motivation, I’m probably not the one to ask – I am sitting here on weddingbee! I have a desk and a home office area but I am pretty bad about using it. I do make sure to schedule calls and meetings spread out through the week. I also try to “reward” myself for getting work done (ie finish this project, then catch up on my favorite blogs).
I used to be a lot more regimented but honestly at this point I figure that if the company is happy, then that’s what matters. I try to make sure I leave the house at least once a day, even if it is just to take a walk and get fresh air (last winter I might have gone days at a time without going outside…). I joined a gym so I can have some social interaction with people during the day and I think some of the clerks at the grocery store I go to know me by name at this point. Today is a bad example as I am sitting on the couch right now in my pajamas, but I do try to take a shower and get dressed in the morning most days.
Part of me loves working from home and part of me thinks it is bad for me. I love the flexibility, setting my own hours, not getting up as early, and a million other things, but I spend way too much time by myself and can definitely get bored/lonely.
Post # 7
Member
144 posts
Blushing bee
pb and j,
I feel like I am living your life. Why do I spend so much time on WeddingBee? Because I’m freakin’ lonely! DH and I just moved to a new town a in Sept, so I know hardly anyone here. We just found a new church so we’re meeting people there… Husband goes to school full time and works part time so when he gets home he just wants to be home, and I want to go DO something! I totally know what you mean about not leaving the house for days on end.
I too have my own dedicated office–it’s organzied, professional, etc. I get up at 7:30 every morning and am at my desk to call my supervisor at 8 to tell him what I’m doing that day. Not in a creepy way, but just “hey, this is what i’m doing, do you need me to do anything else?” So that keeps me accountable. I get done what I need to get done, it’s just… I’ve always been an overachiever and I feel like my work ethic has gone down the tubes. It makes me feel horrible about myself. But you’re right, there is a LOT of wasted time in an office.
And, everyone makes working from home seem like their dream, so I feel bad saying I hate it…
It doesn’t make much sense for me to find a new job because DH and I will only be in this town for 2 years (for his school) and there’s no way I’ll find a good job in this podunk town. It’s fine, we’re just trying to save up for a downpayment, blah blah blah. But yeah, sometimes I think working from home is not good for me. Plus, sometimes it’s hard for me to leave “work mode” when he gets home. It’s not like I have a drive home to decompress…
I’ve been working from home for a year as well. Hopefully it will get better. I’ve seriously tried every motivational thing I can think of.
Post # 8
Member
1254 posts
Bumble bee
I am so happy someone has started this. I work from home full-time too….well, up until a week ago when I decided that the start-up I was co-founding is headed nowhere with the latest funding rejection. Now I am considering myself unemployed, though I still do work for the company. Finding a new job in an office is my current goal.
I love the flexibility and self-imposed hours of working from home but just like you, I have found it hard to motivate myself in the last few months. I feel bad because I know I could be doing so much more that, perhaps, could lead to our company getting funded. But I find myself distracted by WeddingBee and other things: weather, TV, fridge, projects that are non-work related, cleaning, gym, sleeping, etc. I am an over-achiever myself and find that when I am in meetings (face-to-face or online)with the group, I am invigorated and get handed most of the assignments because they know it can be done. And I do them happily, but at the bare minimum of my effort. Lately, I have found myself surfing the web while I am in meetings. My work ethic is definitely slowly going down the crapper.
One thing that I do know is that I am an extrovert and get my energy/motivation/excitement from others. Sitting at home within the confines of my 4 walls does nothing to help me get motivated or excited. I like WeddingBee because it is interactive. I wonder if there is a work-from-home space similar to WeddingBee where other work-from-home folks can talk, bounce ideas off each other, etc.
P.S. I have my own workspace and spend most of my time at home in that workspace, whether doing work or not. I also get to a point sometimes when I don’t leave the house for days on end. My condo complex has a gym in it so it is easy not to leave home. When my fiance’ gets home, I want to run my errands with him which irritates him because I have had all day to do them. But I prefer to do it with someone else…I don’t know why. It just seems so lonely doing it by myself.
Post # 9
Member
1184 posts
Bumble bee
@lindseyrose: when i read your post, i felt like i was living
your life! although i definitely don’t check in with my boss at 8am every day, i’m rolling out of bed arond then while Fiance is in the shower. i’ve taken to making him breakfast before work as it forces me to get up and moving in the morning. it’s nice for him too 🙂
when Fiance gets home i feel like i literally pounce on him – i want to talk about our days, go out and do something, walk around the city. he wants to decompress. he has to talk to people all day at work, so he is happy to have some quiet time when he gets home. i barely talk to anyone all day so i am dying for conversation when he gets home.
sometimes i worry what it will be like when i eventually have to go back into an office environment. although i’d like to be, i don’t think i’ll be at this job forever. i used to be a total over-achiever at work, now i just get by. and the occasional times when i have face to face meetings in the morning, i can barely get myself there on time! also, i SO wish that this whole working from home thing had happened a few years down the road….like, when we are ready to have kids. that would be so convenient.
Post # 10
Member
436 posts
Helper bee
I love working from home!! i love my job and the pay lol…i lock myself in the spare bedroom and turn on the radio…we arent allowed to “surf” the internet on my work computer so i keep my laptop away from me so that way i can keep all concentration! Grant it i dont work full time at home i will once they shut the houston office down so until then i work 1 day a week at home and dec 1 i will work from home full time and i cant wait!!!
Post # 11
Member
1184 posts
Bumble bee
@FutureHarp: you are me exactly one year ago….i worked from home once a week and LOVED it, then last december they shut the office down and i’ve been at home full time ever since. good luck with it – it sounds like you are doing well with it now, so i hope that continues for you!
Post # 12
Member
144 posts
Blushing bee
I think it will be great when we have kids, I’ll cut back hours and work as needed/way less… But until then… I have to figure something out.I do sit in my office all day–I don’t wander around the house (except for the fridge! and bathroom) or nap or go out. I’ve at least got that down. It’s just the darn internet!
I’ve thought about putting crazy parental controls on my computer so I can’t look at youtube, CNN, Wedding Bee, allrecipes, etc. But I use my own personal laptop for work (long story) so I don’t really want to do that… Maybe, can you set up different users on your computer? So that I could log into my “Work” setting in the morning, and use my “personal setting” in the evenings/weekend? I need to ask DH about that. That might work really well actually…
Post # 13
Member
1184 posts
Bumble bee
@lindseyrose: That’s a great idea and very easy to do. I use multiple computers at any given time (I’m an IT manager and work on websites and building applications), but that just means that one computer screen can always have WB up 🙂