How do you stay motivated when working from home?

Ish Baid
21 replies
As a solo founder, I spend a large period of the week working from home alone. It hasn't been too big of a problem, but it is difficult when you're looking to get feedback/brainstorm ideas with someone else.

Replies

Jen ✏️
I've joined a few coworking spaces and they've been so helpful with meeting new people and just having someone to vent to / brainstorm with. I tend to go to a coworking place 2-3 times a week and I'm most productive on those weeks when I get out of the house.
Ish Baid
Something that I've tried recently has been to get on a Zoom call with some other solo founders once a week to discuss goals and obstacles that we're facing. It's been great for helping each of us stay accountable and motivated towards our goals.
Anna Avvakumova
@ish Just in case you'll have to miss such Zoom call for any reason, try Zoom Recorder https://www.producthunt.com/post... It is a free bot that will attend an upcoming Zoom event and record it. I believe it could be helpful for you.
Naomi Assaraf 🔥
When you can't take it anymore, go for a walk or something that doesn't involve a laptop. Don't spend more than 30 min doing it, but try it and notice how easy it will be to return back to something! *Tip: if it's something in particular that you keep putting off, let others hold you accountable by letting them know what you need to finish for the day. ✌️
Ish Baid
@nassaraf I'm guessing the "no laptop" rule applies to Twitter too, huh? 😅
Nicolas Beauvais
@nassaraf @ish get a dog and you will have to spend a fair amount of outside time, it even works when it rains! 🐕
Paolo Pacchiana
90% of my time is working from home. Once every 10 days we organize a meeting day with the rest of the team. I keep motivated myself with challenges and be always in touch with my other team mates ;) Slack, Skype and sometimes, Whatsapp!!
Ana Mengote Baluca
I schedule networking/ coffee events with colleagues at least once a week. It helps me a lot when I have someone to bounce ideas off with. And I have an accountability buddy that I met online and she's the best!
Abadesi
Do you have time scheduled into your week for things that energize you @ish? e.g. a workout, a walk outside, a FaceTime call with a friend? I make sure I schedule regular breaks where I do something active and or social. This helps break up the pace of just working. What do you think?
Ish Baid
@abadesi I usually go to the gym in the afternoon. I've fond it's a great way to break up the day and get some social interaction.
Raj Bhatt
Make a schedule. Allocate regular time for health, fitness, and misc activities (like catching up with friends or family), and follow it diligently. I am sure you'll see more productivity in your work.
LN Mishra Adaptive US Inc. (LN)
Take breaks. Go out for short walks. Socialize. I find many more professionals working from home - form a team.
Justin Jackson
Honestly, the best thing for me was renting a small office space downtown. 😜 In 2014, I started a small co-working space with some friends. It costs us each $250 / month to split the rent + really fast internet. Best choice I've made for focus.
Brendan Weinstein
@mijustin I agree. I am remote but I work out of coworking space in NYC. This is a great way to bridge the loneliness yet still be remote and distributed team.
Aziz Akgul
I usually co-work with friends at coffee shops since meeting in person gives a morale boost much more than any online community. I've seen others doing the same thing and it gave me an idea to create a small app for makers that let's you check in to places (eg coffee shops) similar to foursquare so that you can join another maker at a coffee shop near you. I haven't gotten around to making the app but can add it to my side projects if you guys are up for it.
James Reilly
The way I stay motivated is to achieve a state of flow, which is a combination of 2 things for me (first one's a bit weird but it works for me): 1. Listen to music that plays at certain frequencies, like
. Honestly can get into hours of deep work listening to these. 2. Have a balance of doing work that is familiar (things you can do almost on auto pilot) and challenging (interesting work that helps you learn new things). Too familiar and it becomes boring, too challenging and you'll get frustrated
Ish Baid
@james_reilly Wow - you weren't kidding. That sound track really does get you in focus mode. I've had a similar experience with https://brain.fm