Changing from one season to another often disrupts the schedules and routines that enable our lives to run smoothly, and the change from summer to fall is no exception. Schedules are often shuffled to adjust for the start of school or changing daylight hours, extra time is required to prepare homes and yards for the upcoming winter, and the idea of getting out of bed and getting going is more daunting when it’s still dark out in the morning.
Staying motivated was listed as one of the top struggles for 21% of remote workers who responded to Buffer’s State of Remote Work survey for 2022. It is exceptionally easy to find ways to procrastinate when we work from home. Not only are many of our favorite distractions in our homes—family, television, pets—but noticing unwashed dishes, unfolded laundry, or floors in need of mopping or vacuuming can lead to a flurry of chorecrastination.
Chorecrastinate: Avoiding work by doing mundane household tasks instead.
Fortunately, there are many effective strategies available to help mitigate a lack of motivation—sticker charts, easily visible family photos, and prominently displayed images of that big-ticket item you’re saving for. Not every motivation technique will work every time, however, or for everyone. It’s just a matter of finding the right strategy or group of strategies that work best for you.
Here are a few of our favorite suggestions:
Avoid Overscheduling
Piling too many projects on your plate or scheduling too many appointments back to back can quickly lead to overwhelm. We aren’t made to keep working without a break, and it’s nearly impossible to stay motivated if we don’t give ourselves enough downtime.
Make an effort to schedule downtime after your meetings to decompress, and evaluate your workload before committing to new projects.
Start Small
Sometimes all we need to get our motivation engine running is to simply get started, but large projects that take up a lot of time can be intimidating at first. Start by committing to a smaller portion of the project or commit to a short amount of time to start. Even as little as five minutes of work may be enough to get you excited about the project or in the groove.
Diminish Distractions
It takes approximately 23 minutes to recover focus after an interruption at work. Free up time by reducing distractions and interruptions. Make certain that the remaining laundry or dishes aren’t visible from your work area. Close the door to your room if you are able. Distance yourself from distracting technology that you don’t need to complete the task at hand. This can be done by either turning it off or putting it physically out of reach.
Diminishing distractions like cell phones and tablets at night has the added benefit of helping to improve your quality of sleep by reducing your exposure to blue light at night.
Prioritize your Health
It can be especially difficult to muster motivation when you aren’t feeling healthy. Taking the time you need to eat right, exercise regularly, and get quality sleep will ensure that you can work at your top capacity. If you are unwell or have been injured, take the time you need to heal. Pushing yourself too early isn’t worth the additional setback.
Engage with Motivated People
Introvert or extrovert, all human beings are social animals. One of the best ways to activate your motivation is to interact with other motivated individuals. Engaging with other remote workers helps to improve productivity, provide new perspectives on your worldly problems, and boost mood.
Find local work or professional groups to gather with by searching resources like meetup.com, your city or state’s event website, or the small business administration. Signing up with a friendship-based coworking community like Cohere Coworking is another great way to increase your exposure to busy and motivated professionals.
Sign up for a tour of Cohere Coworking today!
It can be more challenging to muster motivation in the face of the shorter daylight hours, shifting schedules, and chillier mornings of autumn, but it can be done. Using one or more of these X ideas may be just the ingredient needed to motivate your day!
Penny Leigh Sebring is a Cohere member, experienced freelance writer, neophyte speculative fiction author, and gatherer of information and imaginary friends.
Photo by Mariana Medvedeva on Unsplash