6 Tips to Work From Home & Achieve More

Working for yourself from home is extremely hard work. Sure it comes with a ton of benefits like being your own boss, working your own hours, creating your own ideas, and executing your own plan. However, for some people these “benefits” really are not benefits at all and are in fact the cause of much distress and trouble. Too much independence without proper direction and motivation can lead to small goals, poor time management, and a negative attitude. You no longer have a boss to order you around or predefined deadlines to complete deliverables. Instead, you’re going to have to find motivation within yourself to improve and succeed. The ball’s in your court. How are you going to handle it?

Here are 6 tips to ensure that you are motivated, on-task, and productive even as you work for yourself. Make sure you review each and incorporate them into your daily routines.

1. Set lofty goals
   When working for yourself, it’s easy to get comfortable and keep yourself from achieving more. For motivation, set high goals for yourself every month with a plan of action to accomplish them. These goals should be high, but attainable at the same time. If your goals are too high, it is easy to get discouraged and give up. Find a good balance. Write down a list of your goals on a piece of paper and plaster it in places with high visibility. Put your goals on your desktop, on your refrigerator, on your door, or on your laptop case. This will remind you of what you are striving for and motivate you to reach higher and work harder.
2. Use pen and paper when writing a to do list
   In this digital age, many people have forgotten how to write with an actual pen and paper. I find that writing something down by hand increases my creative flow and helps me to visualize my to do list more effectively. This is also more efficient because you can always add to your list without requiring access to a computer.
3. Make sure you write down a schedule with time limits and deadlines for each
   You may not have a boss but that doesn’t mean you no longer have any deadlines or requirements for your work. If you want to be successful it is important to be responsible and be motivated to work with a specific timeline with deadlines. Create a schedule for yourself, aligned with the goals you wrote in the previous section, and give yourself reasonable time limits for each action and deadline. You can always tweak this as necessary but the goal here is to push yourself and stay motivated.
4. Focus on the most profitable actions
   The 80-20 rule applies here. 20% of your actions lead to 80% of your results. Knowing this, focus on your most profitable activities and don’t get caught up in minute details that do little for your bottom line.
5. Work away from distractions
   You may not have a corporate office setting to commute to every morning, but this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t find a good “office”. Work away from all distractions – dogs, beds, televisions, children, and noisy places. You don’t have to stay in the same place every time, but you definitely want to go for optimal working conditions. Of course, this is going to differ from person to person.
6. Have accountability
   Having a business partner can be a great benefit in running your business. However, if you are working alone, make sure you have some sort of accountability to get your work done. Ask your friends or significant others to help you stay on track. Rent office space if that means you’ll feel bad for paying rent and not getting any work done. Get as many people involved as possible to help motivate you both directly and indirectly.

Can you think of any more tips for a work-at-home Internet entrepreneur to stay motivated and on task? What do you do to stay productive?

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