Dreams don’t work unless you do!

Living the dream!  Working from home!  Life surrounded by art!  Sounds amazing doesn’t it?  Well, it does to me too; then the reality sets in….

While working from home can be absolutely amazing for many people, for others the motivation pitfall can become more than some can overcome.  I’ve struggled with this for a number of years while running my own handmade business so I thought I would share with you some of the strategies that I have found work for me to keep me pushing forward despite the distractions.

Get up and get dressed!  Sounds silly, and on most days this isn’t a problem, but when the kids are off of school I will happily not set my alarm and sleep late and lounge in my PJs.  When I allow myself this luxury, I find that I concentrate on what needs to be done at home rather than what I need to do for work.  Now, this may not be a problem for everyone, you may be one of those that prefers to work late into the night, but for me, getting up in the morning is a must!

Get human contact!  Working from home can create a hermit out of the most motivated person.  If you find yourself talking to the washing machine you may need to get out a bit.  Human contact, real humans by the way…not Facebook contacts….is important to stay in touch with the outside world.  Go to lunch, the store, the park or even call a friend on the phone.  When you make a quick connection with others you will feel much less isolated while working.

Which brings us to get out!  Yes, you do need the outside world.  Go for a walk, to the store, to the park or wherever else you enjoy and spend some time outside of the office for a while.  That bit of natural light and exercise will make a huge difference in your mood for the rest of the day.

Clean up!  Taking a few minutes to clean up really helps me focus on work.  If I can see the mess out of the corner of my eye that is where my attention goes and I am less productive.  By spending a bit of time cleaning up that is no longer a problem and I can focus on the job at hand.

Make a schedule and stick to it!  Yes, you are more flexible than some but don’t let that be an excuse not to work.  Also, don’t let others assume that because you work from home you have time to drop everything and chat or watch their kids for a few hours.  You must treat your job like a job, even if it is a creative job, and let your friends know that you can’t drop everything and run because you have work to do.

Finally, declare war on online distractions.  It is so easy to get sucked into any one of the thousands of social network sites or browsing your favorite website or online game.  While a bit of distraction is fine, if you look up and realize that you have been hanging out on Pinterest for the last two hours you may need to set up a time limit for yourself.   These sites can be a great networking tool for your handmade business, but if you find yourself falling into the time wasting trap and not getting your work done then maybe you should take a social network break.

As much as I love working from home, I do find that there are many things that will distract me from my purpose and sap my motivation….but these things don’t help my business or my mood.  By creating an actual “work” space and “work” time, you will be better able to remain on task and get more done in less time.