Working from home is no longer a new definition, especially in these days when the demand of working remote of people is increasing and it becomes a tendency of the times. However, we all know that when working from home, we don’t get to see other colleagues often and this might lead to loneliness and decrease in motivation to work.
Working from home itself doesn’t make you become lazy, it in fact trains you to be a more self-discipline person, but it might cause you to feel lonely and isolated after a long time not working in an office and this can result in the feeling of lazy if you don’t find solutions to raise your motivation. We FittingChairs come up with this post to give you some ways to overcome the feeling as well as other challenges when working remotely at home.
Why Am I So Unmotivated to Work from Home?
Working from home gives you the opportunity to have a better control of your own productivity, but it is not easy to keep yourself always motivated. Working motivation can be impacted by a lot of issues: emotional stress, financial pressure, your own purpose and autonomy. These factors are not different whether you work in an office or at home.
The feeling of lazy when working at home can come from the loneliness when you spend less time talking with other people. Your colleagues can locate everywhere else in the world and you can meet each other online only. Face-to-face conversation is something of a luxury. If you live alone, the loneliness will even increase since you barely have anyone to talk to.
If your job doesn’t require you to go out a lot, it will cause you more of loneliness and isolation since you just stick to the desk and work until the end of the shift.
In case you live with your family or your friends, having less privacy can also lead to feeling unmotivated. If you have kids, they will be a big source of distraction and it is hard for you to concentrate on your work.
No more commuting to work everyday, no more uniform and office structure can additionally make people feel bored and maybe less enthusiastic when there is no rule at work.
One more reason to make you feel less motivated to work from home is that you have to take charge of many household chores and that consumes a lot of your energy, making you don’t want and don’t have time and energy to do anything else wholeheartedly.
So the question is: how to get over the challenges when working from home?
One of the best and easiest ways is setting a regular routine which is similar to when you were commuting to work. Following a particular routine on a daily basis helps you be more organized. You can make a checklist of what you need to do, when to have breaks, exercise time and so on.
When you work from home and don’t meet your boss and coworkers in person, you might feel more relaxed and that might cause you to underestimate the deadlines in work. Therefore, setting goals and deadlines is really important. You can make a detailed list of deadlines, divide big goals into smaller ones to be easier completed. Working when you have a clear goal and schedule can help increase your motivation in work.
Also don’t forget to spend time exercising. Taking a walk, having a short sleep can help you relax during a working day and be more focused.
The Hardest Things When Working Remotely at Home?
Working at home has its own upsides and downsides. You can have more time with your family, save commuting expenses and so on, but some obstacles also follow.
The most obvious thing is that the working space is not professional as in the office. You might lack of some tools or machines to support your work and you have to buy them. The cost might be covered by the company you work remotely for but in case you are a freelancer, you have to pay by yourself.
Getting over loneliness is the hardest thing when working from home. Due to the specific nature of some job, you might not get to talk to anybody throughout the day. This can result in some mental or psychologic issues in the long run.
Furthermore, managing your workload is another challenge, especially when there are too many people in your house and you don’t have a personal space to work, the concentration on work will be effected and your productivity will be decreased.
The Worst Things When Working Remotely?
Working remotely means you can work anywhere as long as you have enough facility to meet the requirements of the job. It could be a coffee shop or a co-working space.
Privacy is one of the problems you have to deal with when working remotely. If you choose to work in a co-working space, it would be ideal if everyone in there all focus on work and their work doesn’t require them to talk loud and a lot. If the case is on the contrary, your focus will be impacted. A coffee shop is suitable for those who don’t need to keep a high level of concentration and privacy while working.
Internet connection is another thing to consider when working remotely. It has a direct impact on your work progress, especially when you frequently need to join video calls or send heavy document files to your colleagues and clients. You can’t always ensure a high speed of Internet if you choose to work remotely.
Some people combine their holiday trips with working remotely. It sounds great and chill but you can’t do those two things well at once.
The same negative effect as when you work from home is the risk of losing out networking.You will not have many chances to join industry conferences or trade shows.
You will also miss some opportunities of mentorship programs. These programs offer feedback and guidance which can help you develop to higher levels in your company.
Why Working from Home Can Cause You More Stress?
Working from home seems not a big deal but it really can cause you more stress in a long time if you don’t know how to deal with the challenges.
Working alone by yourself all day long is the first reason why you feel stressed. Imagine when you don’t have any coworkers to chat, to talk and to discuss whenever you encounter one problem in your job, it would be really uncomfortable and stressed. The situation lasting long can lead to the isolated feeling and then serious stress.
Less conversation results in lack of understanding and sometimes misunderstanding. More seriously, it can lead to arguments and stress in your work.
Working From Home or In An Office – Which is Better?
Everything has two sides. Whether you work from home or in an office, you will get benefits and obstacles. You can save money if you work from home but your performance might be degraded. Working in an office gives you more infrastructure but you have to work in a less comfortable environment.
To make a decision between working from home or in an office, think about your personal needs to know which option will work for you.
Do you need to go to an office to get your job done or you can do that remotely?
Do you prefer working alone or in a team with many other people?
Do you have enough equipment to work at home alone?
Are you self-disciplined enough to guarantee high productivity when working from home?
These are some questions you can ask yourself to decide which working style you would want.
Reasons Why You Don’t Have Any Motivation to Work Remotely?
Less motivation when working remotely can come from distraction and loneliness. Small things such as phone’s ringtone, TV shows, movies are what can make you lose focus on the project you are working on.
Besides, the reason why you don’t feel motivated to work remotely is you moving less. When you move around less, your blood will not have a good circulation, which leads to the feeling of unmotivated.
Working remotely means you don’t need to talk to other people directly, you won’t have to listen to your boss’s feedback or complaint directly so the pressure decreases. But that’s when you might lose your strong commitment to what you are doing and underestimate the deadlines, negatively impacting your productivity.
To gain more motivation when working remotely, create a detailed checklist of daily tasks to keep track of what you need to finish in one day.
You should also use a timer on your phone or your laptop/PC to remind you to stay focused on your work.
Why Do I Feel Tired After Hours of Working From Home?
Tiredness when working from home derives from your low frequency of moving. Less moving is not good for blood circulation and it can cause the blood not to go up to your brain. Your physical health can be seriously impacted by this.
About the mental health, not getting to have conversation with colleagues when working from home makes you feel isolated and lonely. When you work in the office, you might think that chatting with your coworkers is not a big thing but when you work from home, you realize it is one of the things keeping your motivation at work.
How to Keep Yourself Motivated to Work From Home?
You will have more freedom when working from home and that can make you fall into the trap of procrastination. You will always think you have the whole day to get your project done but at the end of the day, your project is still not finished.
To keep yourself active to work at home, you can measure how much time you need to get the tasks done and then schedule time for work and time for break reasonably. When it’s time for work, try to give it 100% of your energy and focus to get the work done. When it’s time for break, put your work aside and relax. When you have the plan, stick to it and you will see the difference.
Try to keep in touch with your former colleagues or your friends who are working in the same field with you to talk to when you want to find someone to solve problems together.
Decorate your working room in your favorite style to give you more inspiration to work productively. It is also one of the ways to give you more motivation.
Is It Worth to Work Remotely?
Working remotely has some certain benefits. You can save time and money of commuting to work, don’t need to face the traffic jams or air pollution. You might not even need to think of what to wear to start working every day. You can also work two jobs at the same time, increasing your monthly income.
But the question is: Is it really worthy?
To find the answer, you need to consider how much privacy you will have when choosing to work from home. Your working room might not have a good soundproofing system and when people talk loud outside, you will hear everything, distracting you from work.
Internet connection is another thing. As we have said above, you can’t always guarantee the stability and high speed of Internet connection. It is a really important factor to consider when you want to work from home or remotely anywhere else. You might need to have your own Internet setup and take full charge of it to make sure you can join video calls and online meetings as well as send the document with a fast and stable speed.
Working remotely has both advantages and disadvantages and before making up your mind, you need to think carefully. If you are a person with high self-discipline, working remotely can be a good option and give you great experience.
Hope that you have found the answer for can working from home make you lazy in this article. Don’t miss out next articles on FittingChairs to gain more useful tips to apply when working from home.
