Blah, Blah, Blog

If you ask a lot of work at home moms what their #1 challenge is, many would say:

“How Do I Stay Focused And Motivated?”

Working from home is an ideal choice for many of us because of its flexibility, but that same flexibility can be a double edged sword. We have so many options each day – when to work, what do do, etc., that we can easily become distracted. The internet itself with its social media and email can suck us in and be a time waster.

When it comes to motivation, I generally don’t have a lot of challenge there. It’s my income that pays the bills and feeds my kids since I’m divorced, so that provides the impetus I need to get going! Of course, we all have times where our energy is lower or we’re emotionally stressed. At that time, we have to pull some tricks out to keep our energy high for work.

Here are some things that have worked for me.

Step One:  Create a Workspace

Your workspace may have to change as your circumstances change. My workspace sometimes has to be the bed – while I’m putting a young child down for a nap or for bedtime. But I do have a desk with my desktop computer, and a small file cabinet that keeps me organized. I also keep all of my running to-do lists and things in ONE organizer so I’m not operating from a million slips of paper everywhere. When I sit down to work, I know exactly what I can do “next”.

A dedicated workspace may be a luxury, depending on your life and the size of your home, but at the very least, having a space to call your own – even if it’s the top of a surface somewhere away from little hands – is important.

If you can swing it, try to get out of the house to work sometimes. With free wifi hot spots, a couple of hours at a local coffee shop can be some of your most productive time. As an example, a couple of weeks ago I headed out to Starbucks and sat down to write. I got a week’s worth of daily blog posts scheduled in about an hour and a half. While those posts published to my other blog, I was able to do other things!

When you use a designated workspace, your frame of mind changes immediately when you walk into it and sit down.  You’re mentally more ready to focus.  This is exactly what happens to me now – the other day I met a friend for coffee at Starbucks and found myself pulling out my mini Acer laptop while I waited for her to arrive. It was like autopilot for me, my brain turned to business in that space.

For those of you with husbands who may or may not respect what you’re doing in your business – creating a workspace may help your family take your working from home more seriously. It becomes easier to set boundaries.  When you’re in your office, you’re working and you’re not to be disturbed.

Even though my children are young, they know that once a week for 20-30 minutes, I often am recording an interview for my podcast and they are expected to be quiet and not disturb me.

Step Two:  Create a Schedule

One of the things you love about working from home is that you don’t have to create a schedule – however a schedule will help you stay focused and be more productive.

I have a daily and weekly schedule for the kid’s schooling and our other family activities. Back in 2007 I blogged about a monthly business schedule that worked well for me at that time. Now my business looks a little different, so I have tweaked things a bit.

When you create your schedule, remember to schedule in breaks, household chores, time with your family and meals. It’s easy to say, “I’m going to work from 10-4” however actually sitting there and working for six hours is going to be a lot more difficult.

I find that I’m almost never able to work at the computer productively for more than about two or three hours at a time.

I do much better if I schedule periods of intense work with something physical like housework or exercise. If I try to work without stopping, I’ll begin getting distracted and soon I’ll be playing on Twitter and reading blogs.

Lately I have been spending less time on Twitter and on blog reading. Maybe it’s a kind of spring cleaning. I even cleaned out a bunch of the blogs I was following in my Google reader. Have you done do the same recently?

Additionally, make sure to schedule entire days off.  It’s easy when you work from home to get on the computer every day, but you owe it to yourself to refresh your brain with a real break.

Last Friday I took the kids to a homeschool field trip, and then we followed the group to the park for several hours. On the way home we grabbed a treat at the local health food store.

All told it was a fantastic day, and I didn’t get online all day long! We need days like that for our mental health and to remind us of what’s really important in life. Then when we get back to work, we’re more focused.

Step Three:  Eliminate Distractions

Make a list of things that distract you.  Perhaps it’s the full laundry basket staring at you, your children interrupting endlessly (when they’re old enough to know better), your friends calling you on the phone, outside appointments and errands.

Make a list of these distractions and then find a way to work around them.

For example, if your children are a little, you have to plan your day around them. That’s one of the beautiful things about being a work at home mom.

However, setting aside chunks of time to work without interruption means less time overall spent online.

Can you trade childcare days with other parents who work from home?  Can you hire a sitter for part of the day?  Can you work around their naps?

When it comes to the housework, this is where creating a workspace – even if it’s the corner of the kitchen or your bedroom, comes in handy. Being able to close the door on the rest of the house helps you focus on the task at hand. Having that weekly schedule for the housework helps with that too. If you know there’s a day to do the floors, they won’t nag at you all the time!
Rather than modeling your work from home life around what you feel you should do, take a look at the reality of your living situation, your family’s needs and personality, and create a work from home life that works for you.  It takes a little planning and flexibility but it’s possible.

A final word about motivation:

I’ve noticed that a lack of motivation is a sign that I need to do something differently. Either I need to take a break or change the way I’m running things to breathe some fresh life into my business. Have you noticed that?

Another thing is, work tends to beget work. If you just get going with the task at hand, even if you don’t “feel” particularly motivated, it tends to be its own reward and you feel better soon enough. Works for me.

See Also:

The Top 3 Things To Do in Your Online Business