Due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, you are indoors for days now.
Working from home has become your “new normal”, thanks to pervasive technological connectivity options and the flexibility offered by your employer.
With no office to go to, your self-discipline and motivation levels are already taking a toll.
Why does motivation dip while working from home?
You might find it hard to focus on work at home.
Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, you probably are doing this for the first time in your life!
Your brain tells you “this is home and not the office” and you act accordingly.
And there are a 100 reasons around you that can stop you from working.
Besides, you miss your colleagues and you are also worried about the future of your career.
Please note that you are already engaged in a job opportunity during Covid-19, so you are better off than most people!
Yet, your motivation level is plummeting and your work is all set to get impacted.
Take charge and stop that from happening.
Here are some surefire ways to boost your motivation and increase your productivity.
Plan Your Day
Since you are working alone, prepare a structured daily schedule. Stick to this plan no matter what.
Remember that your day has no interruptions due to social bindings.
So the good news is there is no influence by other people at all.
Try to understand solitude and realize that time spent alone is better if it’s organized.
Action Tip
List down multiple short breaks throughout the day that are timed, either to eat with family, or to play with your kid or to take a terrace walk with your dog.
Stop micromanaging tasks
Are you struggling to manage yourself or your team remotely?
May be you have never done it under such difficult circumstances before.
This may push you or your employees to feel demotivated. Chances are high you may hear a colleague or yourself say;
“My boss always messages me at 8 am asking for my day’s work plan.
Then he or she calls or emails every 30 minutes asking me to do things, ironically stopping me from working effectively, getting me stuck into things.
Also she calls for unnecessary meetings all the time which could have easily been just a mail!”
Loss of motivation during this pandemic isn’t just about the lack of external encouragement due to working from home.
It runs deeper than that.
Action tip
People are good at driving themselves.
Although extrinsic factors (like money, awards and punishments) play an important role in shaping behavior, you and your colleagues have the remarkable capacity to engage in a task without any incentives at all.
Personally gratifying things such as learning, satisfying a curiosity or problem-solving can weave magic on their own.
So please do not micromanage work.
Keep your team motivated at all times
You have already crossed the hurdle of ensuring that your teams and colleagues have set up their tech tools at home.
Now that all processes are defined and video conference accounts are active, how will you motivate your team to work enthusiastically from home?
You must have observed that during the COVID-19 crisis, people are focusing more on planned work only.
Like answering the right number of tickets or sending out scheduled mails, or delivering the presentation of an approved project plan.
Not to forget, emotional pressure and economic pressure are mounting too.
People are worried about losing their jobs, paying their fees and rents, and protecting the health and wellbeing of their loved ones.
Action tip
In such circumstances, here’s what you can do to motivate your colleagues and team mates.
- If you want your team to be productive, make their work engaging.
- Suggest several opportunities to do experiments and present their findings.
- Make sure your team feels like they have a challenge and that they can solve it.
- Discuss about what might be driving their motivation levels up or down.
- Suggest helpful ways to maximize their motivation and execute these plans.
As a leader or a team mate, this is your time to listen deeply and build a safe environment in which everyone can work collaboratively.
Check out these top rated employee engagement and motivation courses on Naukri Learning.
So dear reader, whether it’s a pile of dirty laundry that suddenly looks more appealing than your pending presentation or it’s a quick 2-hour binge of that new show on Flix, anything and everything at home can hamper with your work and productivity.
Staying motivated about work will clearly take a lot of extra effort on your part.
So quit idling about and push yourself a little harder than before.
Apply the pointers outlined above to stay focused and help others around you stay all pepped up as well.
Keep your spirits soaring high even as you are locked up at home.
All the best!
