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7 Ways To Keep Motivated When Working From Home

July 1, 2020
aya
7 ways to make money online, connect, connection, make money at home, Motivation, motivation video, motivational video
7 Ways To Keep Motivated When Working From Home

Far fewer people are likely to have worked from home for a sustained period of time, as is now the case as the global health crisis of 2020 unfolds. To help you with adapting to this new way of operating, we have put together these seven top tips on remaining motivated when working from home.

1. Create a working environment at home

If your idea of working from home consists of sitting in bed or in front of the television with your laptop, it is unlikely that you will be very productive. If you have a spare room or study to use as an office space, keep anything work related in there. Creating a working environment can get you in the right headspace that you need to work productively.

2. Dress for work

Although it can be tempting to stay in your pyjamas, be sure to get dressed and ready for your working day. This will make you feel more awake and ready to tackle the day, after a few hours of sitting in your bed, you will probably begin to feel groggy and less productive.

3. Organise your day

If you set out clear objectives for the day ahead, you are more likely to stay focused and achieve your self-recommended deadlines. Use a paper list or an application like Trello to create a list of tasks that you need to complete, and tick them off as you’ve completed them throughout the day.

4. Manage your workload

If you have a lot of tasks to complete for a large project, or you have administration tasks piling up that you are yet to begin, it can become stressful. If you are working from home and taking this quiet time to get some admin tasks completed, then try to separate them into manageable chunks to complete throughout the day or week.

5. Check in with your colleagues

It can be easy to feel like you are working alone when you work from home. However, although this might be true physically, don’t forget about your colleagues who are also working at home or in the office. It is important to remind yourself that you are at work, phoning to update your boss or colleagues about your work.

6. Give yourself breaks

Breaks are important to boost productivity. If you don’t allow yourself time to rest and recuperate during the day, you may become burnt out by the afternoon. Be sure to take a full lunch break, and try to stay away from your computer during this time as well. You will feel rejuvenated when you return to your desk to tackle the full working day.

7. Reward yourself

It may motivate you knowing that you need to complete a task and send it to your manager by a certain deadline, but for those who don’t work under anyone, you should try to come up with ways of rewarding yourself at the end of each task or day. This little boost can give you what you need to move onto the next job, and keep up your motivation.

How to Focus When Studying: 10 Uncommonly Effective Tips

June 21, 2020
aya
career, career development, career ideas, communicate, connect, consulting, content
How to Focus When Studying_ 10 Uncommonly Effective Tips

Do you find it hard to focus when studying? There are so many distractions these days: text messages, videos, email, and social media. I’ve come up with this list of 10 tips and techniques to help you concentrate while studying.

1. Use your phone camera or webcam to record yourself studying

Set up your webcam or your phone camera to record a video of yourself studying. The idea is to create accountability. Instead of having a friend check on your progress, you have a camera watching everything you do. Knowing that you are being watched will remind you of your objective.

2. Use Focusmate

If you want to take it to the next level, use Focusmate instead. With Focusmate, you make a pre-commitment to study for a 50-minute period at least one day in advance. You must turn on your webcam during the 50-minute session. This means that you and your study partner can see and hear each other during the study session.

3. Before your first study session of the day, create a plan for the day

Make the plan as detailed as possible. There’s a good reason for this. You must be clear about what you’re going to achieve during each study session. For example, “study science” is not a sufficiently detailed study plan. Here’s an example of a plan with enough detail: “Read pages 25 to 32 of the science textbook and create a summary diagram.”

4. Write down exactly why you want to study hard

Another way to stay focused when studying is to be clear about why you want to study hard in the first place. Write down the reasons you want to study hard. Keep the list handy so you can remind yourself of these reasons when you find yourself losing concentration.

5. Keep track of all the tasks you’ve completed

Keep a record of all the tasks you complete each day. This is important for two reasons. Firstly, it allows you to monitor whether you are meeting the objectives set in your study plan. If you are not meeting your objectives, you may have underestimated the time required for the tasks.

6. Don’t study in bed

Don’t try to do anything productive while lying or sitting in bed. It’s important that the place where you study is not the same as the place where you sleep. You won’t be able to study effectively in a place that you associate with relaxing or sleeping.

7. Adjust the temperature of your studying environment

Make sure the temperature where you are studying is optimal. Researchers at Cornell University found some interesting results when office temperatures were raised from 20°C to 25°C (68°F to 77°F). Typing errors fell by 44% and output increased by about 150%.

8. Tell your family your study schedule for the day

Post your study schedule on your bedroom door or on the fridge door in the kitchen. This way, your family will know when they shouldn’t disturb you. There’s another benefit to doing this. It also gives you a greater sense of accountability.

9. Put all of your digital devices in another room

This might seem like common sense, but I’m surprised how many of my coaching clients were not doing this before I started working with them. The old adage “out of sight, out of mind” applies here. Leave your tablet and phone in another room and put them on silent mode.

10. Listen to classical music while studying

Listening to classical music is another way to help you focus when studying. According to Dr. Godkin, the ability of music to stimulate both sides of the brain is why music helps you focus and also improves your memory.