Motivating Yourself When Working from Home

If you’re going to successfully run a gardening business whilst working from home, then you’ll need to be motivated and organised. But it’s not always as easy as it seems.

For anyone working from home, being motivated is vitally important. You need to be able to concentrate on the work you’re doing, be able to get through work when you’ve got a lot on and keep going even in the toughest of times. Without being properly motivated, you run the risk of missing deadlines, not getting enough work done and falling behind with orders or clients.

It’s somewhat inevitable that there will be distractions in the workplace, whether you’re working at home or in an office with lots of other people. But you have to learn to look beyond the distractions and get focused, otherwise your business could suffer.

It’s good to realise that you actually have an advantage from working at home. You’re the boss, you’re able to choose when and where you work, sort out your schedule so that it suits your individual needs and requirements, and plan how you’re going to work. As a small business that’s just starting up, you should be highly motivated and keen to get going, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to feel motivated.

Potential Motivation Problems

One problem that can occur is not knowing where or how to get started. It’s a common ailment, as when you’re the boss you have to do everything (unless you are employing other people to work for you) and being faced with a mountainous workload can be very off-putting and overwhelming.

If this scenario occurs, it’s good to go back to basics and write a list of priorities. Using a whiteboard is handy, as you can have the list on your wall in clear view; otherwise you can use pen and paper or type up a list. Your list should include everything you need to get through, arranged in order of priority. Rather than trying to do everything at once, you should focus on doing one task at a time and then take pride in ticking it off the list – or rubbing it out on the whiteboard.

Another problem with working from home, that can affect your motivation, is the ability to get easily distracted. It may seem like a small distraction, but if you’re blown off-course from your work schedule, it can delay you getting everything done and then affect your motivation.

If you’re easily distracted, it may help to give yourself regular breaks during the day, so you’re not working endlessly. If you want to walk the dogs, watch the news, prepare a meal for later on or put the washing on, then you can do so during your break, but in the knowledge that it is just a break and not something you shouldn’t be doing as you’re working. Hopefully, you will feel refreshed and motivated to get back to work after your planned break.

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Tips For Keeping Motivated

Some other useful tips for keeping motivated include:

• Setting yourself regular working hours and trying to keep to them as best as possible.
• Maintaining a list of aims and goals that you’re trying to work towards.
• Rewarding yourself with treats when you meet your goals.
• Always sticking to working in your office, nursery or workshop. Sometimes it’s nice to have a change of scene and work somewhere else, but in the long run it can be more motivating to be in a set environment with all your gear and equipment at hand.
• Produce regular charts and graphs to highlight how your business is progressing – and stick up the ones that show great sales figures or increased numbers of new customers.
• Keep your working area as clean and tidy as possible. It’s easy to lose motivation if you’re in an untidy and disorganised area.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Gardening Business Pricing Calculator lets you work out what to charge for gardening work so you cover your costs and make a profit: turn your hours, materials and overheads into an hourly rate and a job price. Try it now →