“The Biggest Motivation is Health.”
With the onset of the coronavirus, we started working from home and have not left our homes for 45 days except for food shopping. Although it is difficult to keep motivation alive during this process where we are trying to get used to a new normal and completely stay away from social life, what motivates me the most is that my own health and the health of my loved ones are still good.
Although the sudden change in life makes us miss many things and want to return to our old lives as soon as possible, it is very important to be healthy. As I started my article, I wanted to state that our biggest motivation should be to stay healthy.
In this process, there are some tactics I use to wake up every day, sit in front of the computer, have a productive work day, and keep my motivation to work from home high.
“I separated my work environment.”
First of all, I separated my work environment from the rest of the house as much as possible. I have a room and a desk that I use only for work. I need to use this environment as neat and tidy as an office. For this reason, I regularly clean and organize it. This special area allows me to work more focused.
“I separate my sleeping clothes from my everyday clothes.”
Our own self-care is as important for our motivation to work as the order of the environment we use while working. Sleep, clothing, food… We need to pay attention to these.
For example, if I haven’t slept in late, I try to wake up half an hour earlier than the start of my shift. Because starting work right after waking up makes it harder for me to focus. This half hour for myself is enough to have breakfast or a snack, maybe a coffee, and it gets me ready for the day.
When it comes to clothing, I want to mention the much talked about pajamas : ) I definitely do not sit in front of the computer in my pajamas. It is important for me to separate my daily clothes from my sleep clothes. I prefer comfortable clothes like sweatpants during the day.
“I definitely make time for exercise.”
In this period when our daily routine movements and step counts suddenly drop, I care about exercising. I try to get rid of the negative effects of constantly sitting in front of the computer by doing sports inside the house during lunch breaks. For this reason, our company bought an exercise application for us. I use it efficiently.
“I attach importance to regular working hours and verbal communication.”
We try to keep our working hours regular. This allows us to work focused as a team during our productive hours. Another thing I want to emphasize is my communication method. I mostly prefer talking to my teammates. Because talking instead of writing sometimes makes me feel like I’m in the office and this feeling motivates me. Sometimes it’s necessary to make time to talk outside of work.
“I do not neglect taking breaks and my special activities.”
I can sometimes forget to get up from the computer. I try not to forget to take breaks like tea or coffee breaks or oxygen breaks from time to time. I think we need to give our minds some permission by taking these breaks. Doing activities that I enjoy in my private life after work allows me to start work the next day with motivation.
In this “new normal” period where we started working from home, despite all this, there are times when my motivation hits rock bottom. However, by continuing to work in the way I mentioned, I can usually work in a motivated way. Because, as I mentioned at the beginning, it’s all about being healthy and staying healthy.
