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Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

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Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#31

Post by dfxm12 »

I don't. I find my motivation to be the same, but it's far easier for me to focus at home; I've got fewer distractions there.

If I have any tips, first, try to figure out why you can't focus or you aren't motivated. If you can't focus because of a distraction and it can be removed, remove it. If it can't be removed, can you remove yourself (to another room or even outside for a bit)?

Getting motivated can be tough, because there's probably a million things that can factor into that and your job is only one of them. That takes some self reflection and maybe a friend to talk it over with. One clue you've given is that you seem to lament spending so many hours of your day at home. Prioritize getting outside when you can, if only for a walk. Work outside for a bit if you can.

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#33

Post by bladegash »

admissionsguy wrote: post #4

A strong sense of purpose in life. When every productive day brings me closer to realising a wonderful goal, I can endure even the shitty client I am unfortunate to work with.

Your perspective reminds me of Victor Frankl’s “Man’s Search for Meaning”. At least for me, many times the pursuit of a goal is the majority of the fun, even if I never reach it!

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#34

Post by dgellow »

That’s not something I felt before lockdowns, I was already working remotely from home and had no issues with it. But since COVID, and more precisely since my country of residence started their latest lockdown (now 4+ months in and no way to know when it will end), I really have difficulty staying focused.

Something I’m currently experimenting with is to practice sport outside and more regularly. I just got a bike with the goal to go outside a bit every day or so, and relieve my anxieties and other sources of tensions.

That worked for me in the past with other types of sports but all sport facilities (swimming pools, squash courts, bouldering areas, etc) are currently closed here. So let’s see if biking helps ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#35

Post by jszymborski »

Something that's helped for me, and frankly isn't possible for everyone depending on their living situation, is to keep an "office", in any way you can. The other thing I do is try to, even ever-so slightly, diversify my schedule.

I work from a laptop and desk in my bedroom, and in the evening if I want to do "computery" thing, I move down to my basement where I've a gaming rig set up. There, I can work on side projects, play video games with friends, etc...

The only rule I make is that I can't work on side-projects on my laptop, or work on my main work on my second rig.

In terms of diversifying my schedule, I try to not work on any one thing for more than 2 hours. I force myself to either work on something else, take a coffee break, or literally anything else.

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#36

Post by dgellow »

TheMerovingian wrote: post #8

Sounds like you're suffering from mild depression; one of the common symptoms is lack of motivation. If you try powering through your symptom, there is a good chance it will make your anxiety rise. And that's arguably worse. Let me ask you: How often do you exercise? Do you meditate? When was the last time you lost yourself on a good walk? Have you been taking vitamin D supplements (important for us northerners durin…

How do you jump from lack of motivation to a diagnostic of depression?!

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#37

Post by lame88 »

Motivation from within is the strongest, and requires that work be aligned with personal goals, either in developing skills or making something happen. In these conditions, I've found that I'm at my most productive no matter where - I'm working against the clock to realize my own ambitions within the many constraints of my job.

However, this could simply be a mental health thing in anyone's case. There is nothing to lose and nothing to be ashamed of by consulting a professional about it.

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#38

Post by mehphp »

dominotw wrote: post #23
mehphp wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious, in what way did pomodoro because unsustainable? I don't use it all the time but mostly when I don't feel the "spark" to work. I've tried many things but I've come to the conclusion that I will never have the same motivation for tasks I'm not interested in. I've found that if I sit around and wait for that motivation to hit, it will never come so it basically boils down to "just doing it". I know how tha…

pomodoro was making me really unhappy, i cannot explain it :)

Well I can't fault you there! I hope you find what you are looking for

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#39

Post by jasperry »

dreen wrote: post #5

It's different when working remotely during a pandemic or not. Yours (and mine too) lack of motivation are likely due less to remote nature of work than to our isolated limited lives in general. I'd say try to enjoy this, focus on things other than work for now.

Definitely this. You might even find that stopping trying to be more productive actually makes you more productive in the long run. Give yourself permission to do the bare minimum for a few days, and sometimes do nothing but relax. Loosening the bow for a while could let your mind reset and rediscover its sources of motivation.

Re: Ask HN: How to stay focused and motivated working from home?

#40

Post by pmw »

In the morning, I write down (and tell my team at standup) what I plan to accomplish today. I need to feel that the plan is doable, and my team needs to feel that the plan is making good progress toward our goals.

As I go through the workday, I move tasks from "need to do today" to "doing" or "did today". The "did today" list becomes what I tell my team the next day at standup.

I also have lists for "need to do this sprint" and "need to do sometime (non-sprint work)".

I track my time working. I use an iOS app called ATracker Pro, and I like it because it's local-first and simple. When I am engaged in work or doing something work-related and mandatory (trainings, OS upgrades, etc.), the timer is ticking. When I step away for lunch, bathroom, breaks, etc., or feel like browsing Hacker News for a while, I stop the timer. I have a goal for myself of 7 hours of work a day, and 35 hours of work a week. The app notifies me when I hit the goals. Some days I manage only 5 hours, while other days I exceed 10.

The time tracking is for me to stay accountable to myself. My workplace doesn't require me to track/log time. It's simply for me to know that I am giving my employer the time they expect of me... not less, and preferably not more. It helps me to find work/life balance. I can allow myself to take a nap in the middle of the day, or start work late, and know that it'll work out.

I try to be consciously aware of procrastination. The timer is to help with that (so I stop the timer if I feel like procrastinating---then I can do so guilt-free). But also, I am aware that procrastination is an emotion management problem, not a time management problem. Reflecting on that helps me to break out of it. I ask myself, what do I feel negatively about? Is the task too vague? Are the implementation details unpleasant? What's the smallest step I can take to make progress?

Lastly, I recommend the book "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People," specifically the first three: Be Proactive, Begin With The End In Mind, and Put First Things First.

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