How To Stay Motivated Working From Home: 20 Methods

Being able to work from home feels like a dream come true.

At least that’s how it feels at first.

But after a while, it gets a bit old. Then you get tired easily, get bored, and get distracted all the time.

It’s like a cycle that you have to go through from time to time. And it has happened to me many times over the years.

During these periods, finding the motivation to work can be a challenge of its own. Thankfully, I have found a few methods that worked really well for me.

These are some of the things I do to stay motivated when working from home. And I guarantee you’ll find at least one method here that will work for you as well. Have a look.

1. Start With Why

Have you ever thought about why you do the things you do?

Why do you work so hard to earn money?

Many people will give different answers to this question. Some will say that they are working to provide for their family. Or pay off their debt. Or earn money to buy their dream house. Or even become a millionaire.

Whatever it is that you want to achieve, think about that reason every day.

Start your day by reminding yourself why you’re working hard. Print it out and stick it to the wall in front of you. And read it every time you feel like giving up.

This is a concept popularized by the author Simon Sinek. Read his book Start With Why to learn more about this concept.

2. Take Short Breaks

When you work for long periods of time, it can make you feel tense and frustrated.

Our brain is not designed to perform complex tasks perpetually. It needs breaks, sleep, and rest to maintain performance at peak levels.

So whenever you feel like giving up work or frustrated, just take a short break.

Get up and walk away from your desk. Go drink a glass of water. Or step outside in the sun for a bit.

Even a small 10-minute break can make you feel refreshed and motivated again.

3. Take An Online Course

I know this is an odd method but it will work for anyone who’s passionate about learning, like me.

Lately, I’ve been learning about productivity and maximizing my performance to do better work more efficiently.

I came across a program on Mindvalley by Jim Kwik and after watching this program I felt highly motivated to write something. In fact, it’s what motivated me to write this article as well.

I’m not sure if this will work for you but I’ve found it very motivating to learn something new and try to apply those concepts to improve my life.

Taking an online course to work on a skill and improve, like productivity or finding motivation, is a great way to get inspired every day to do your work.

At the end of each day, I watch a video from a course and it keeps me motivated throughout the next day.

4. Follow A YouTuber

If you can’t afford to buy an online course, you can always turn to YouTube for some motivational content.

I’ve been following several YouTubers for a while and I watch their content whenever I need a boost in motivation.

It’s important to find a YouTuber that you admire and who produces content that motivates you to do better work.

I follow several YouTubers like Ryan Holiday, Tim Ferris, and Alex Hormozi, these people publish great videos that will get you motivated every day. Of course, it will always depend on your preference so follow someone you like to be like in the future.

5. Start Using Productivity Tools

Multitasking is one of the main reasons why people get distracted and lose motivation.

When you try to do so many things at once, it’s hard to keep your focus on doing the important tasks that require more brain power.

For example, it’s difficult for me to stay motivated when a client hasn’t paid my invoice. Or if I keep thinking about managing a big project. Or sending an email to another client.

Even though these are small tasks, they can take up so much of your time and affect your productivity in a big way. And when you’re not productive, you’ll eventually lose motivation to keep working.

A good way to fix this is to use great productivity tools. Bonsai is a good example. It allows you to manage your clients, invoices, contracts, projects, and everything in one place.

6. Use The 52/17 Method

Using a productivity technique like the Pomodoro Technique can be also helpful to stay focused and motivated while you work.

Although, this method hasn’t worked quite well for me. As a writer, I’m used to sitting down and working for long periods. So taking a break every 20 minutes is not ideal for me.

But I did found this 52/17 method to be quite effective.

It works similar to the Pomodoro Technique. Except you work for 52 minutes and then take a 17-minute break. Give it a try.

7. Read A Book

If you want to find the motivation to work harder and be more successful, read a book!

I’m not talking about novels or sci-fi stories. I’m talking about motivational books and business books.

Or read a biography of a successful person like Elon Musk or Richard Branson. It will show you how hard they had to work to be where they are right now.

This works for me all the time and it pushed me to work even harder to achieve my goals.

If you don’t have the time to read a book. Use an app like Blinkist to read summaries of books. It’s a much more efficient way to read books.

8. Gamify Your Work

Treat your work, or even your life, as a game.

In video games, you have to complete missions to earn rewards and then you gain levels. You can apply the same technique to find the motivation to work.

You can break your work into smaller tasks. And each time you complete a task, reward yourself with something.

For example, set a rule that you will only check your social media notifications after completing a task. Or reward yourself with a small piece of chocolate after completing a task.

9. Listen To Video Game Music

Listening to music while you work is a great way to be motivated to keep working.

In fact, studies have found that listening to video game soundtracks can boost your productivity significantly.

This is because video game soundtracks are designed to motivate players to do tasks. And it apparently works for doing your real-life work tasks as well.

The Witcher 3 soundtrack is a favorite of mine. You can also find soundtracks for various other games on YouTube and Spotify. Put on your headphones and listen to them while you work.

10. Are You A Night Owl?

If you hate waking up in the morning and doing the work, you may be a night owl.

I used to hate working in the morning. But I was very productive and motivated to work at night. I used to stay up past 2 AM working.

Try to shift your schedule a bit to see if you feel motivated when working at night.

11. Get Rid Of Distractions

This is one of the most difficult things to do when working from home.

Unless you’re living alone, there will always be distractions around the house.

Your kids will come asking for you for things.

Your neighbors will drop by unannounced.

A friend will call and start talking non-stop.

These things happen. And it can be hard to stay motivated and work from home when you’re surrounded by these distractions.

There’s a solution for this. You need to find the ideal time to do your work.

If kids are distracting you, wait until they’re off to school. Or wake up at 5AM and do the work before kids wake up.

If friends keep dropping by, tell them to give you some space. Or do your work at night.

I know it’s not the best solution, but you need to adapt to overcome obstacles.

12. Go For A Walk

You may have heard many people recommend going for a walk to clear your mind and find new ideas. It almost sounds cliche but it really works.

Even if you’re living in an apartment, just get up and walk down a stairwell, walk inside your house, or around the neighborhood.

Just by getting your legs moving, you will feel new energy rushing through your body. And by the time you’re back at your desk, you will be topped up with fresh motivation.

13. Stop Doom Scrolling

I assume that you have already gotten rid of all the distractions that keep you from staying motivated. And yes that includes social media.

And I don’t mean to turn off notifications or put your phone on silent. I’m telling you to completely revamp your social media presence.

Mute or unfollow anyone that posts negative stuff on your social media. And follow people who post motivational stuff. And follow pages like Big Think that share content that helps you to find motivation and success.

You know how people tell you to surround yourself with successful friends to succeed in life? Well, that applies to your social media presence as well.

14. Set Daily Work Goals

If you keep having a hard time finding the motivation to complete tasks, you should take a step back and evaluate your work.

Are you trying to do more than what you can handle? Are you trying to work too fast?

Then come up with a plan to restructure your projects. Then set daily goals that you know you can achieve.

15. Work From A Coffee Shop

Truth be told, I’ve never tried this method. But I hear it works for many people, especially for those of you who have left jobs at an office to work from home.

For some reason, being surrounded by people while working keeps some people motivated to work harder.

If you’re one of those people or just need a new space to do your work, try working from a coffee shop. Or you can try a co-working space as well.

16. Avoid Coffee

Working from a coffee shop reminded me of the habit of drinking coffee. I know most people turn to coffee to stimulate their brains, but you shouldn’t do this when working from home.

Coffee will give you a small jolt of energy at first but it will dry out fast. And then you’ll have to keep drinking coffee to keep your energy levels up.

This is a terrible thing to do to your brain and your body. And it will have negative effects on your motivation as well.

Instead of coffee, you should switch to something like tea. Or drink water with a slice of lemon.

17. Work Out Daily

Exercise is not just about staying fit and healthy. It plays a key role in maintaining your energy levels and it helps you to stay motivated.

Set aside a few minutes each day to do some basic exercise at home. Or go to a gym if you can.

If you really need to test this out, try doing some exercises when you’re low on motivation. You’ll see that it immediately improves your mood and energy levels.

18. Clean & Organize Your Desk

A messy desk will have a strong impact on your mood as well.

If you have stuff lying around all over the place on your desk and in your room, you will likely feel the same way about your work.

Get yourself organized by first cleaning your room and organizing your desk. Keep a minimalist environment on your desk to improve productivity and motivation.

19. Start Over

If you’re feeling frustrated and lack the motivation to do a task, try starting it over.

Sometimes a fresh start is just what you need to get a new perspective and find the motivation to do the work.

20. Just Get To Work

Writing this tip reminded me of the “Just do it” meme. But the truth is sometimes it’s just what you need to do.

When you don’t feel like doing the work, just sit down and force yourself to do the work. If you’re a writer, just write anything. If you’re a designer, open Photoshop and design something. It doesn’t matter what it is, just do something.

This actually works well to get you going and get started on your work.

Are You Burned Out?

If you’ve tried all the methods and still don’t feel motivated to work, then you are probably burned out. Take a day off and reflect on the work you’re doing right now. Think about if this work suits you. And consider switching to a different field that you’re passionate about.