How To Stay Focused And Motivated While Working From Home?
Motivation is one of the major challenges for people working from home. Motivation is vital to being more productive and making more money. It’s easy to become lethargic while working from a home office. People that have a home-based business such as medical transcription, typically miss the energy created by working with colleagues at a standard office. The motivating factor of impressing the boss no longer applies. What can you do? Here are some useful tips to keep you motivated and focused while working from home.
Set goals for yourself: Goals are motivating. Set goals such as making an extra $100 a week or obtaining five new clients per month or taking only seven hours to do the work it usually takes eight hours to do. If you don’t achieve your goals, don’t pout, keep trying!
Productive hours: For most people there are certain times of the day when their productivity level significantly rises. These are not the times to read emails, chat with friends, or perform routine work tasks. These are the times to take on the big challenges you have been postponing or work on top priority projects.
Office hours at home: Regular office hours usually remind people to be professional and that work is the primary focus. Don’t take care of chores during your working hours or take time off to watch television or play video games. However, allow yourself a specific amount of time for breaks during the day. Log in and out for breaks and for lunch. Scheduling breaks and lunches helps prevent wasting two hours on breaks and spending too much time on lunch each day.
Get organized: A cluttered office can be a little depressing. A well organized office can put you in a better mood and make you feel more like a professional.
Limit distractions: It’s easy to get distracted while working in a home office. Children, pets, phone calls, email, computer games, social networking sites and online shopping can take up chunks of time and you’ve easily wasted an hour of your working day. Only respond to personal email during your breaks and don’t create an unscheduled break just to respond to personal email! Use your call display to determine if you should answer the phone during working hours. Don’t get involved with those unnecessary text messages you received.
Dress for work: You don’t have to wear a suit and tie but wear clothes that are appropriate to be seen in if one of your clients shows up at your home. It’s difficult for a work-at-home professional to feel vibrant and motivated while wearing pajamas. You probably never heard a highly successful business owner promoting the benefits of wearing pajamas to work. If you’re personal habits falter it’s likely your work habits will also decline.
Dedicated work space: It’s easy to lose motivation if you don’t have a professional work setting. The couch in your living room is not the best choice for a home office. However, changing the scenery once in a while can be refreshing and motivating. Also, family members should realize they should stay out of the home office during working hours. They can spend time with you during lunch and breaks.
Take time off: Take short vacations every quarter and have some fun. Working all day and night can easily make work boring and motivation declines. Get away from the computer and spend time with friends and family. MySpace and Facebook can easily become the social life of work-at-home professionals. Hang out with real people! You’ll feel better. Remember, most people stretched out on their death bed surrounded by friends and family members don’t say “Oops! I should have spent more time at the office.”
To-do list: A list is an excellent way to keep track of the tasks that need to be done and when they need to be completed. First thing on the list; take off the pajamas and put on some working clothes. Yes, indeed. You can use the list to set up your schedule for the next day.
Get exercise: Take a fast paced walk or a couple of them during the day. It’s important to get away from the office. Exercise makes people feel better. While you’re on your walk don’t think about work! Also, if you’re sitting in a chair all day get up occasionally and stretch your arms and legs.
Change projects: If you get bogged down on a project, put it away and work on a different project for a while. Choose a project that is not similar to the one you were working on. When you go back to the other project you will probably have new ideas and fresh energy.
You can make a higher income by staying motivated and focused. Being motivated and focused can also keep you from feeling bored during the working day. Treat your home-based business as if it were located in a traditional office. Also, make sure to have some fun during the day.
Brian Jenkins writes about Career and Education Topics for Braintrack.com. His work has been cited by many major organizations, including the Career Services Center at Xavier University.
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Dress for work. I really find this to be a very helpful way in getting any day started. I find it especially fascinating that you mention this as a way to stay motivated and on task. If I am dressed for success, even if I am at home, this will only make me more successful in life. I will keep my pajamas in the closet until the sun goes down.
Very common sense strategies here, but we all forget about common sense when working at home! These little reminders are great suggestions for anyone who struggles with a routine, isolating or repetitive at-home job. My productivity dramatically decreased when my husband retired and is home all day, so I have to tell him to “keep out” even though it is SO tempting to come into my office to visit or have me look something up, or play with our dog who sticks to me like glue during the workday….If you have more suggestions, I would love to read them and yes – dress for success at home! Working in PJs reminds me of a sick day from work!
Yes, there is one more article with some suggestions, especially tips to avoid distractions from family members, neighbors, etc. Find it at Tips & Techniques To Minimize Distractions In Home Transcription. Also, don’t forget to read the comments by readers below that article.
You are also welcome to share your ideas to stay focused and minimize distraction while working from home. Leave your comments.
I’m still new in the medical transcription field, and I must say, I’m a bit easily distracted. I once tried a work from home stint but gave up on the first month. I find these tips very helpful and if implemented -rewarding. Really need to do these things pronto, and avoid procrastination.
I have just gone through your post and found interesting points. Medical Transcription is a hard field which need motivation and concentration all the time. Motivation is the key to success for every transcriptionist!
Thanks for sharing this post
Regards
.p-
It is very important to get out of the house. Many who work from home notice that it is very easy to fall into the “home bound” trap.
One thing I think is crucial for staying on task working at home is to have an actual “Schedule.” Aside from the usual work hours you schedule with your virtual employer, it is also important to schedule your tasks as if you were working out of a regular office. For example, Friday is grocery day, Thursday is wash day, etc. By having to manage your time, you manage your work just that much better. When I don’t have structure, I don’t produce as much as I should/would like to produce. Good luck to all!!
I’m still new to the medical transcription field as well, but I have had a real estate business based at home for the last three years. I find the best way to concentrate, and ignore the distractions around me, is either complete silence or classical music. Noise cancelling headphones are great for blocking out my boyfriend as well (as rude as that may sound, sometimes it’s completely necessary–and he knows it!). Taking breaks and doing small tasks also actually helps me to stay on track also. Whether it’s laundry, dishes, running out to grab some lunch, etc., as long as it is short and fast, I find that it’s helpful to leave the desk and come back fresh. I just make sure I’m sitting down for at least a set period of time, an hour or an hour and a half, basically like you’d do at any office job.
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