Where To Get Motivation Working Remotely - Self-development, Society

Due to COVID, today in our country almost a quarter of the working-age population works remotely. Some people like the experience of remote work and pushes them to the decision to go "free bread", to become a freelancer.

There are many positive aspects in the life of a “free mercenary”. But today let's talk about the cons. The absence of strict frameworks in the operating mode dampens and relaxes. External social motivation is also lost. There is no control on the part of the management (and if there is remote control, it is much weaker than on-site control). Feedback (in the form of a motivating assessment of work) from both clients / customers and from management in a remote format is also weakened.

Being in a work collective, a person receives many motivational influences from his colleagues, even without always realizing it. For example, during a conversation in a "smoking room", one of the colleagues can casually boast of their labor success. But this story can exacerbate competition with this employee, motivating the rest of the participants in the conversation for labor exploits. A freelancer, by definition, is a loner, he is deprived of participation in such conversations, and, therefore, lacks social motivation. There is no one to compare yourself with, no one to compete with, no one to assert oneself to.

How do you motivate yourself? Here's one of the methods:

1. First, make a “list of rewards”. Take a piece of paper and write on it as many things as possible that give you positive emotions. It should be what you love, what you dream about, what you want. You can also add the best options for rest and recuperation for you to the list.

It is very important that the “rewards” on this list are real, attainable. There should be an opportunity to receive any of the listed rewards in the horizon from "right now" to 1-1.5 weeks. The rewards should be small, but really enjoyable. For example, “make yourself a cup of delicious coffee”, “call and chat with a friend”, “read 30 pages of an interesting book”, “stick to social networks for 15 minutes”, “do a physical exercise”, “play with a cat”, etc. P.

The longer your list of rewards is, the better. Over time, it can be added, adding new "positivity" there. But it's important to take one more step: rate each item on the list on a 5-point scale. If there is a score of "1", then this is a common pleasure, and "5" put only those things that will please you as much as possible.

2. Work rhythmically, create your own daily routine and stick to it! I recommend to google about "tomato time management", but in short: set the timer for 25 minutes; We work for 25 minutes, then rest for 5 minutes. This cycle of work and rest is one "tomato".

Further, your working day can be measured either by "tomatoes" or by the tasks performed (you can do both). For each completed "tomato" (and / or labor task) you assign yourself 1 point. How many points can you earn during the working day? On average, 10-12, but there are hard workers who manage to score 20-25 points if they keep track of “tomatoes + tasks”.

3. The main step in your self-motivation is the exchange of earned points for specific pleasures from your "reward list". You can exchange these points during the day (you can spend 1-2 points in between "tomatoes"), or you can accumulate them and allow yourself some more extensive pleasure at the end of the working day.

One last thing: don't take this method too seriously! It is a game mechanic based on joy and pleasure. If you feel that you still do not want to take on the "tomatoes" and earn game currency (points), then it makes sense to think over and edit the "list of rewards" again.