The coronavirus pandemic has turned work from home into a reality for many people. With indisputable advantages, but also with not negligible critical issues. A problem many people experience is the loss or lack of motivation. But with some behaviors and strategy it is possible to maintain high concentration and productivity.
Motivation is the fuel of every activity, but finding and maintaining it may not be easy. The difficulty concerns both the private and professional spheres and the coronavirus pandemic has made the challenge even more complex on the work front.
The ‘ social isolation imposed a major reorganization of the newspaper and the home working has become a reality for many people. But if the office in the living room has undeniable positive aspects, it also presents problems. And one is undoubtedly how to be motivated to work from home .
We at Junglam talked about it with Marina Osnaghi , the first Italian Master Certified Coach, who gave us some useful tips for being and staying focused, efficient and productive within the walls of your home.
Working from home: the rules for being motivated
Home working has many advantages, but also several critical issues. And motivation is undoubtedly a sore point. Beyond the objective difficulty of efficiently moving processes from the office to the home, for many, working alone affects negatively on attention, concentration and desire to do. What can be done to prevent this from happening?
First, Marina Osnaghi invites you to check the goals . If they are nebulous, unworkable or (in the worst case) indefinite, it is very difficult to stay focused and act consistently and effectively to achieve them. The inevitable consequence is to disperse attention and energy and find yourself in a self-feeding loop of demotivation. The advice of the Master Certified Coach is to establish realistic goals and to agree on a concrete action plan with the work team, in order to have a clear idea of what needs to be done, how and with what timing.
The next step is to stick to the schedule . Marina Osnaghi explains that this means not only proceeding according to the agreed steps, but also not burning the stages. The risk of rushing is to stumble and fall and an unexpected abrupt stop can have serious repercussions on motivation. All the more so when working from home and it is not possible to interact directly and immediately with the boss, colleagues and customers.
At the same time, the Master Certified Coach suggests recording progress and giving yourself a reward for every small and big achievement. The reward must be commensurate with the goal and can be an extra break, a special lunch or dinner, something desired for some time and so on.
Setting goals and respecting the program helps to be motivated to work from home (and beyond).
On the other hand, smart working can lead to identify profound critical issues in professional motivation and generate a reflection on one’s business and career. In this case, Marina Osnaghi invites to welcome the push for change and to reflect on one’s condition and needs outside the time dedicated to work from home.
The Master Certified Coach emphasizes that, even if done in a different environment from the office, home working is work in all respects and as such belongs to the professional sphere. Consequently, questions relating to personal reality must be kept separate and addressed and managed in the space that belongs to them.
Practical advice to be motivated to work from home
For many, smart working is part of everyday life. For others it is an extraordinary condition. But in all cases, there are some behaviors to observe and strategies to put into practice in order to be and remain motivated and work productively and resiliently.
Marina Osnaghi indicates among the foundations of home working the need to establish a working time and to take care of yourself . His advice is to set and respect an hour at the start and end of the day, the lunch break and two small breaks in the morning and mid-afternoon and to prepare as if you were going to the office. In other words, the invitation of the Master Certified Coach is not to give in to the temptation to sit in front of the computer in pajamas, but to respect the morning routine and to dress as if you had to go out (or at least change and be neat). These two behaviors are useful to optimize time, attention and energy, to maintain respect for oneself and ultimately safety in one’s abilities.
Establishing a working time and taking care of yourself is essential to be motivated to work from home.
Another trick that Marina Osnaghi urges to put into practice is to define a workspace . This means avoiding answering emails and phone calls and making calls and video conferences a little where it happens, but choosing and using a room or a corner of the house as a “work area”. This strategy helps to maintain concentration and motivation and has a positive effect on personal balance, because in fact it separates the professional from the private sphere.
At the same time, the Master Certified Coach advises to notify any partners, family and roommates of their commitments and working hours and to explain to them that in that time window and in that space you are not available and you must not be disturbed.
Last but not least, Marina Osnaghi invites to establish clear, transparent and effective communication with the work team and to cultivate “real” contacts with the video call apps to avoid misunderstandings and misunderstandings and maintain a high sense of unity and collaboration.
