A
career coaching article:
Five Tips for Staying
Motivated When Your Job Stays Home
by Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D.
Q. I am considering a
telecommute option, where I'd be working from home. How can I stay
motivated?
A. Five tips to stay
motivated -- especially starting out.
(1) Build structure
into your day.
Create a schedule and To
Do list every evening for the next day, before you sign off for the
day. (And yes it is important to sign off, even if you return
later to complete a project.) Include breaks and email reading time.
Define goals by numbers ("write 1000 words") instead of time ("2 hours
on Mega account"). One of the joys of working at home is you get to
quit when you're finished ahead of schedule.
(2) Train friends and
neighbors to respect your working hours.
Clients tell me about
neighbors who say things like, "I told the UPS truck to leave the
package at your house since you're always home." Discourage phone calls
with a prepared response, like "I will call you after four o'clock
today." You will be tested. Prepare to hang tough.
(3) Get the family on
board.
Deal with their concerns
before you start and be prepared to show how you are creating a win-win
situation. Clarify what counts as an emergency a valid reason to
interrupt while you are working - and what can wait till dinnertime.
(4) Build breaks into
your schedule.
When I started my own
business, I was warned, "Plan to get out of the house! Otherwise you'll
never leave your desk."
Frankly, I didn't get it.
Why wouldn't I take
breaks? Now as I find myself answering just one more email, or adding
two more paragraphs to an article, I see the clock move and realize I
must stop if I want to get to the gym or the store before closing time.
Bonus Tip: A dog will
force you to get moving, no matter what else is going on in your life.
(5) Create reasons to
finish your projects.
My weekly ezine motivates
me to write at least one article a week. You may be energized by
company and client deadlines.
As your responsibilities
grow, you will tend to accumulate more and more "real" deadlines and
it's easier to stay motivated. But in the early stages, you're
isolated, you're working hard and results don't appear immediately.
That's why some people hire coaches and consultants to create
accountability.
Bottom line: Not everyone
enjoys the work-at-home option. My clients tell me they need six to
twelve months to decide how they are responding to this arrangement.
You may decide to return to a workplace where you can see real people
everyday. Or you may get hooked on having a dog-friendly, gossip-free
workplace where you can open the windows all year round.
I offer one-to-one consultations
for business and career change.
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Cathy's Special Report: How to Survive Your Performance Review (and
move to your dream career)
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resume services.