“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

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It’s fun reading the stories and tips from fellow work at home Moms, and I always learn something or am inspired. Kelly recently announced a change at the W.C: she’s going back to an ad free, exclusive content style magazine. That means the W.C. will be juicier than ever.

I can’t wait to get my new copy. It even includes an audio CD with each issue! If you’re already a free subscriber you will need to upgrade to get the new good stuff, so do so here:

The WC News – because you don’t want to miss a thing!

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• The ability to be my kid’s primary caretaker is the big one.
• I also love being able to spend my time doing what I want to do… it’s work but it’s also enjoyable.
• I like being able to take off in the middle of the day to head to the park or take the kids out for lunch or on a field trip, and get my work done at other times. Flexibility! I can work hard while my kids are with their Dad or Grandparents, take the laptop to Barnes and Noble and sip coffee while I work, or stay up late and work when I can’t sleep. It’s my choice. I’m very self motivated and love working for myself.
• I earn 2 1/2 times what I earned at my full time job that I left when my first kid was born.
• And I also enjoy quite a bit of passive income which I never had before!

I’m very very thankful! What about you? What blessings has your business brought your way?

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A lot of Moms want to know how they can replace a paycheck and get to a full time income quickly. My answer to that is get into a service based business. These businesses are a great option for moms who want to be paid hourly or per project, but wants the freedom a business offers instead of working a job.

If a Mom has typing skills she can create a profitable and successful service based business as a transcriptionist. With transcription you have two options:

1. Medical Transcription
2. General Transcription

With medical transcription you’ll need an education in medical terminology and will need some type of experience in order to grow a successful business. But, general transcription requires much less.

You don’t need any specialized training, education, or experience. You simply need a desire to work, the ability to type what you hear, and a decent typing speed. Of course when you’re building a business you’ll need more than just the skills of the trade. You’ll need to know how to build, grow and market your business into the successful money maker you want.

If you want to cut your learning curve in half, I recommend buying the Transcription Starter Pack by Nell Taliercio. She has recently reduced the price from $24.95 to $17.47. I reviewed this product for Nell and it’s a tremendous value.

When you purchase the learning product you’ll receive the following:

1 hour audio that outlines how to start & grow your general transcription business
An interview with a successful general transcriber to help you learn and inspire you to action
Printable instruction eBook .
A software & hardware resource list
8 customizable website templates so you can get your business website up and running quickly
Video tutorial that walks you through setting up your website in FrontPage
A sample teleseminar, internet talk radio show and podcast for honing your skills

You can read more about general transcription and this learning product HERE.

It’s an incredible value and the perfect resource for anyone interested in creating a typing business.

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From time to time, I’ve recommended sources of information for those looking not for a business, but for a job at home. Many people need “right now” money to replace a paycheck.

I personally don’t know a lot about the work for hour opportunities, so I asked my good friend Nell Taliercio, known as The Telecommuting Answer Lady, to answer some questions for me. Here’s what she had to say. I hope this information will be helpful to you in your search.

Carrie: Most people think the idea of a work at home job on the internet is a scam. What do you have to say about that?

Nell: Carrie, there are many scams on the internet. It’s a sad fact. And most people who log online will, at one point or another, fall victim to one. The good news is that there are plenty more legit ways to work at home now! Work at home jobs and businesses abound and there is a wide variety to choose from.

The important thing to remember is no business will get you rich over night and no job will pay you $500 or more a week for only a few hours of work. If you understand that a business takes time and requires hard work then you’ll be well on your way to a successful business.

And if you remember that you have to work hard with a work at home job just like an outside of the home job you’ll have a much better chance of a) finding legit work because you’ll pass right over the scams and b) be successful working at home be cause you’ll have a realistic view of how it all works.

Carrie: Nell, one of the things we hear over and over is “never pay to workat home”. This means you shouldn’t have to pay to be considered for work, but there are guides (such as yours) that can help point theway for people and save them a lot of time. How do your books help a Mom who is looking for a legitimate opportunity online? And what is the earning potential?

Nell: The beauty about working at home is you have the opportunity to do just about anything you’d like to. And I’ve found that most people, especially mothers, want a way to earn an income where they don’t have to deal with the phone or home parties.

Both of my learning products cover two very popular and growing businesses that both telecommuters and business owners are getting into. The demand for both virtual assistants and transcriptionists grows each year.

My products will teach you how to capitalize on that demand by starting, running, and growing a virtual assistant business or general transcription business from ground zero. If you’re a mom looking to work a variety of tasks for a really nice hourly wage then becoming a virtual assistant might just be the best bet for you.

Many VA’s make upwards of $35.00 an hour while $20.00 an hour being the usual starting out rate. That wage alone attracts many into the VA industry. And becoming a VA isn’t as difficult as one might think.

My How To Become a VA walks you step by step through it all and offers teaching videos, 2 hour interview, website templates and more…for the very low price of $29.95. Take a look at: How To Va

If you love to type and excel at it then becoming a general transcriptionist might just be up your alley. You don’t need any specialized training to become a general transcriptionist like you would a medical transcriptionist. The faster you type the more you’ll make per hour, but many transcriptionist can average $10.00-$15.00 per hour starting out and then move up from there.

My General Transcription Starter Pack comes with what you need to get a really good understanding of working a transcription business and includes an interview, e-book, practice audios, interview with a successful transcriptionist and more….for the low price of $24.95, found at: Transcription Starter Pack

Carrie: Any final words of advice?

Nell: What I would leave you and your readers with Carrie, is that working at home has become a reality for a huge amount of mothers and there isn’t any reason why you can’t make your dream of being a business owner and full time mother a reality too.

Follow your heart, and what you enjoy to do and you’ll end up with a business that not only provides a great income for you, but one you are proud of and love!

Thanks Nell for sharing that information with us
Carrie

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