After so many weeks and months of working from home socially distanced from the rest of the world, your colleagues, or your employees, and the struggles to grow if not maintain your business going, you may find that your level of motivation has gone down to the lowest ever.
Working from home, with all the positives that we can find, has undoubtedly had an impact on motivation. Of course, you saved commuting time, you spent more time with your family, you could dress down every day, but I wonder if you are feeling slightly disconnected and have lost a bit of grip on your motivation.
Let’s be realistic! Many have been furloughed for an extensive time and therefore have been left at the margins of their companies, floating around trying to find a way to spend their free time, others have continued to work from home, socially distant from each other, able only to hold a conversation maybe with a colleague every now and then and others have lost their jobs and are worrying about what’s next.
I think it’s quite natural to feel somewhat disconnected and demotivated in such challenging times? Don’t you think? I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait to go back to normalcy and be able to meet with people in person instead of in a zoom room. I mean, Zoom is great and has served the purpose to be able to, at least, see each other, but, at the same time, it feels weird as it is a reminder of what we have lost temporarily and that we should be in the workplace together.
Meanwhile, what can you do to feel motivated if you have lost that spark? Here are a few suggestions.
– Plan and prioritise each morning what you will be doing during the day including breaks and lunches.
Begin your day checking in and close each day checking out in order to separate work from your personal life.
– Stay connected with your colleagues, don’t isolate yourself. Use any form of digital communication to send texts, make phone calls, use face time, etc., to keep in touch.
– Make sure you take breaks away from your working area, including mid-morning and mid-afternoon breaks and lunches.
– Re-establish a balanced routine to help you manage your time at work as well as your work-life balance. It’s easy to get distracted by your phone, social media, and members of the household so, staying strict with your break allowance and setting boundaries, can help you to reel yourself back.
– Use your free time to do those activities that will generate mental strength like going for a walk, run, play an instrument, listen to music, read a book or anything else that works for you.
If you feel your motivation has reached the lowest point in a long time, the good news is that you
can begin to build it back day by day starting from one the points above and gradually adopting them all and feel energised mentally and phisycally again ready to face this challenging time in good form and what’s coming next down the line.
