Let’s face it - working from home is no walk in the park. All the work to-dos surrounded by household chores, piles of laundry, and a yearning to click on the TV can leave employees with a host of distractions, but it’s time to get back on track.
Boosting work from home motivation with your team not only ensures everyone is in the work mindset but boosts productivity for a well-run team, too. As the leader of your team, figuring out how to stay motivated working from home is essential to continuing success, especially as our at-home offices become a more permanent part of life.
To ensure your team is on task, even when you’re not with them in an office setting, we are sharing the top 10 tips for how to be motivated to work from home to boost your staff’s productivity. Check them out!
#1 Emphasize a Great Work Setup
No more working from the bed or couch! While it’s tempting for employees to remain snuggled in their sheets or in front of their television, having a dedicated workspace is an essential key to solving how to stay motivated when you work from home.
To boost productivity, encourage your team to have an established space to work from. No, they don’t need to have a full office set up, but even cornering off a place at their kitchen table can create a better work environment than that of their bed or couch. This dedicated space will keep them in the right headspace to remain on task throughout the day.
There are a lot of benefits to this tip. Working from bed can actually impact your employee’s sleep, so share that with them as the final push to get a more official setup.
#2 Share Scheduling Tips
Creating a schedule is essential when mastering how to stay motivated while working from home.
To avoid long hours of unproductive time, suggest your team schedules their day logically, not only establishing when to start and complete work but allotting periods of time to finish tasks for a more efficient day. This will help avoid a lunch break turning into a two-hour-long Instagram scroll or laundry session as your team instead has a schedule in place to motivate them to push through their daily tasks.
#3 Encourage Them to Dress for Work
Yes, pajamas, sweatpants, and athleisure are a lot more comfortable than the work attire of years past, but it does nothing to help productivity. Changing out of pajamas and into work-ready (albeit Zoom-ready) attire is a quick solution for how to get motivated working from home.
While it’s easy to roll out of bed in last night’s t-shirt, a quick change can help your team feel more awake and ready for the day as they used to in an office setting. Setting this precedent with your team will ensure everyone’s on the same page and ready for the workday, even though they may not see anyone in person. Look good, feel good, right?
#4 Manage Their Workload
Working from home doesn’t mean there’s less work to be done, and an abundance of tasks can quickly overwhelm the team in a way you may not recognize in a remote setting.
To keep your team staying motivated working from home, help them manage their workload. Suggest they plan out their workload for the week, then divide it down by day to break it into more manageable tasks they can complete. Breaking down the to-dos can help manage time better, ultimately helping get more work done.
#5 Discuss Limiting Distractions
While it can be challenging to get on a roll with daily tasks, it’s quite easy to get distracted. Small interruptions can lead to long blocks of distraction, so encourage your team to limit these interruptions. But how?
Recommend your team mute their phones (Instagram and Twitter can wait!) during the workday. For those with kids at home, recommend they set certain times to check in on their children, ensuring they have blocks of time where they can hustle through their work uninterrupted. Limiting distractions may be easier said than done, but it’s essential to mastering how to motivate yourself while working from home.
#6 Share Time-Blocking Tips
Time blocking is one of the best work from home motivation tips that you can implement with your team immediately. With time blocking, you can encourage your team to allot small periods of time to particular tasks and projects, breaking down their day into more manageable chunks.
For example, instead of team members committing to reaching out to 50 clients by the end of the day, have them break it down by the hour. In transitioning the thought process to “I’ll reach out to 5 vendors in one hour,” you can help your team break down daunting tasks into more manageable feats.
#7 Check-in Throughout the Day
Figuring out how to motivate yourself when working from home can be a tough task for your team, but there’s a way you can help - check-ins.
It’s easy to feel alone when working from home, so team leaders checking in with staff can keep them updated as well as connected to the overall team. Whether it be weekly statuses with your staff or a random chat to see how you’re doing, this communication can make a world of difference.
However, this can be a balancing act. You don’t want to hover over your team, making them feel as though you don’t trust them. Keep your check-ins regulated and not overbearing, so they know you are just there for support.
#8 Promote the Importance of Breaks
Breaks are essential to boosting productivity and mastering how to stay motivated to work at home. Encourage your team to take short breaks to step away throughout the day, going for a quick walk or making lunch so they can refresh between tasks. This is not only good for morale but creates an understanding of trust that’s essential between managers and employees.
When incorporating breaks in the day, be sure your team knows to share when they are taking a break, so no team members are left wondering why they aren’t getting a response. Unlike the office, you can’t see when a coworker has left their desk, so added communication is key.
#9 Create Fun Challenges
A little challenge can do wonders to boost motivation at home. This method may not work for your whole team, but encouraging them to meet new goals in a certain amount of time can provide a quick boost to productivity. For example, you can challenge your team to see who can write the most words in a designated time, helping them cruise through their tasks while creating some friendly competition. It’s a win-win!
#10 Boost Morale with Rewards
Showing your team that you recognize and appreciate their hard work is one of the best tips to stay motivated working from home. A bit of encouragement helps employees feel appreciated, so sending them a short note with words of encouragement after a job well done or sending them a gift card for lunch on you can help them feel seen, even while working remotely. With a bit of encouragement, you can boost your team’s motivation and morale, so they not only complete their tasks but strive to achieve more.
From having a designated workspace to dressing the part and time blocking the day, there are a lot of ways to help your team figure out how to stay motivated while working from home. It will take a bit of dedication, but by finding the right motivations for your staff, you can ensure your employees are just as productive and motivated as they would be in the office.
If you don’t know what tips are most effective for your unique team or want to build a high-performance team, the Core Motivation Analysis assessment can assist. People strive when successful; we at Trust Well Network help create that possibility, so Talk to us!
