
Ask HN: How do you stay motivated when working remotely? - stewartma
I have a lot of trouble finding motivation when working remotely. Some days require a lot of activation energy to get started.<p>Note: I like my job. Really, I do. I just find that I&#x27;m much less motivated to do as I much as I used to.<p>Has anyone felt a lack of motivation and&#x2F;or job fulfillment when working remotely? What strategies have you used to combat these feelings?
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Jtsummers
It's a bit micro-managey, but since my performance did drop substantially with
WFH, I've been sending updates to my boss more frequently. It helps to keep me
going on days when I'm struggling with motivation. At the end of the day, I
don't want to send in a report that says: I did nothing.

My anxiety has also been a bit worse (understatement) through all of this (I
don't do well in social isolation). I've also had to force myself to do what
should be habit, but breaks down when stressed. When I'm stressed I have a
hard time viewing an activity as a set of smaller activities, it becomes a
monolith. This stresses me out even more, even for stupidly small tasks. So
I'm explicitly writing down the steps I intend to follow, where in normal
times I wouldn't have to. This gives me smaller, more tangible things to
accomplish. I've also increased my accountability. Not just with the boss, but
with colleagues. I'm writing a paper and I'm sending out short snippets to
everyone periodically to review what I've done (as I'm still relatively new,
their feedback is important anyways to ensure accuracy). So every couple of
days I want a section completed (draft) to send out, and I take their feedback
and update the previous sections. Repeat until done. Even if I only get a
couple people sending me feedback it's something that helps.

Anxiety makes me hypercritical of my work. Getting positive feedback on my
work gives me a bit of confidence back (it shouldn't be lacking, I'm a
competent technical writer, but anxiety wrecks me). Seek out those small
victories, and break things into smaller tasks to make them a bit more
frequent. Waiting a month for feedback is not going to keep me motivated, but
days or a week is perfect.

Another issue for me is just _starting_ work. Once I'm moving I'm moving. The
office gave me a delightfully crappy laptop for teleworking that struggles
with even a handful of open applications, but I suffer the sluggishness and
keep working copies open in the appropriate editor. Even small amounts of
friction can have a major impact so removing it (by keeping the documents or
source code or whatever) open and just an alt-tab away makes a big difference
for me. I minimize reboots to once or twice a week (which really makes it
struggle after a few days) for the same reason. Getting back into a good
working state is friction, so always have the system in the proper state.

~~~
stewartma
This is a great response, thanks for sharing.

I think over-communicating actually is a trait that the most successful remote
workers share. I like the accountability point you made as well: you don't
want to send your boss an empty email at the end of the day. I think I'll give
this a go.

Why do you think your performance dropped with WFH? Is it the social isolation
bit?

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Jtsummers
I moved in January, so I had 2 months in the new job before we were sent home.
I knew only one person socially (and barely a second, his wife) in this city.
We had just gotten settled into the home enough that I was ready to go out and
join a local gym (BJJ or similar) and find local game shops to get back into
my hobbies and meet people. My wife and I had just joined a church and were
joining a social group (group dinners with other parishioners) to meet people
there. Then we were sent home. My tasking was very light and we had limited
access for the first few weeks so I couldn't really do anything useful.

Between the social isolation and the low level of work in those few weeks, it
killed my momentum. I hadn't actually become part of the team here yet (not
the fault of any person, just the timing). All of that, plus my tendency
toward anxiety problems, just mounted and my focus and motivation were lost.
When things started opening back up with a limited return to work I was still
outside any of the development teams in most ways. I was in the office every
3rd week, and the people I had been working most closely with (due to social
distancing requirements and the size of cubicles) were there the other 2
weeks.

Then I started really falling behind, and when I finally got my head cleared
up a bit I took a while to get moving properly again. I'm mostly back on track
now, finally had a good talk with the boss. It was also very hard to finally
call him (I hadn't seen him in person in months because of the rotation) and
say, "Hey, I've had crippling anxiety for a couple months and restarted
therapy. I'm getting better but I'm behind." That was anxiety inducing on its
own. But like getting started on work, once we spoke it went well (that's been
my experience throughout my career when this has happened, now three times
over the last 15 or so years).

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blaser-waffle
Inertia is a thing. Getting up and moving around, be it a morning commute, or
just wandering around, makes a big difference. Walk your dog, get a coffee,
grab lunch, or just wander 6 blocks.

I also eat lean and avoid most foods during the day. At the office I can force
my self to focus -- no bed or TV nearby -- but at home even a large sandwich
can put me to sleep.

Also, certain activities I just don't do during the day while working
remotely. No TV, no sitting on certain chairs and couches, only certain kinds
of clothes, etc.

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AnimalMuppet
Yes, I felt the lack of motivation. It seems that the closer interaction with
others helped me stay focused. (Within limits - too much interaction and I
can't get anything going because I'm interrupted all the time.)

But the same kind of thing happens now that I'm going back to the office, but
nobody else is here.

Sorry, I don't have a solution...

~~~
stewartma
Totally agreed. The closer interaction with others helped me stay focused too
(though there's a balance there.)

Don't know if it's because working remotely lacks that, or if there's
something inherently just different about video calls for collaboration.

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tawjob
Walk at least 15 mins everyday before your work day and do it for a week
without any execuse and just dream new things. Dreaming limitlessly imo is the
key for motivation. In other words your achievement bycle reached your
dreaming bycle.As you can not take your achievements back only way is to move
your dreaming bycle further. If you move your dreaming bycle to far a way it
may cause you become hopeless or over-ambitious.

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jac_jac
When I lack motivation, I set a timer for 30 minutes and commit to begin work
on one task. Then I reward myself with a 5 minutes break (yes, I set a timer
for that too). Usually, I get so into my project and keep working past the 30
minutes.

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giantg2
I had a lack of motivation even in the office. It's gotten worse now that I'm
remote. I've become disillusioned by the promises of the company (and the
world in general) and don't see much of a future.

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tawjob
I am looking for a remote job but can not find one, i will be highly motivated
when I get one. You already have it just think about how lucky you are as a
starting point.

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gtirloni
Try focusmate.com

