Whether you’re a mom, dad or not a parent at all… whether your kids are at home with you, at school or at daycare… it’s sometimes (often?) hard to get motivated in the morning when you’re working at home. For me, once I get started working, I don’t even want to stop for lunch… it’s just the “getting started” part that’s sometimes a challenge. Here are a few things you might try when you’re having “one of those days.”
- Shower and get dressed
- Brush your hair
- Set goals for the day. 10 minutes of checking emails and writing a to-do list can get you started and keep you on track all day.
- Have some coffee or tea and give yourself a certain amount of time to goof around on social network sites, how-to sites, online comics or whatever tends to be a distraction to you. Set a timer if you have to, but get started on work as soon as time’s up. There is a plugin for Firefox that you can use to set a time limit for yourself on certain websites.
- If you can’t limit yourself on the time-waster websites, just don’t even get started until you have your minimum work done.
- If there are things that absolutely have to be done… like cleaning up your desk or starting a load of laundry. Do it, but set a time limit to get it done. “This task should take me x amount of time, and that’s ALL the time I’m going to take for it.”
- Listen to music. This is a big one for me.
- If you’re sitting at your desk, thinking about all of the OTHER things you NEED to do… make a list and set it upside down on your desk. This will help get it out of your head and give you your to-do list for when you’re done working… or give your spouse his or her list.
- Above all… do NOT do ALL of the above and do NOT use these things as a stalling tactic.
My morning routine on days when John is at daycare is as soon as they leave for school/daycare/work I get on the treadmill. It usually takes me five to 10 minutes to get going and it’s a 40-minute program. Then I start the coffee pot and take a shower, get dressed and have my coffee while I check up on email, facebook and some online comics. Usually I’m sitting down to the computer shortly before 9:00. Including checking and replying to emails (which IS work related) my goal is to get started on actual, billable work by 9:30.