5 Tips to Stay Motivated When Working in Isolation

If you do freelance work, contract work, a remote employee who mainly works alone, one of the biggest challenges is staying motivated to do your work effectively and efficiently. The main reason for this, in my opinion, is the lack of a human connection and uplifting spirit that you can get working in an office environment. Whether you’re grabbing a cup of coffee or lunch together, or working on a team-based project, it’s a confidence and morale booster to work with your fellow peers and colleagues in an office environment. Now that we’re living in very unprecedented times, everyone has had to deal with working in isolation. Here are 5 tips that you can try out to stay motivated during isolation.

1. Set a daily goal for yourself

If you think you’re going to conquer the world in a single day, then you haven’t been listening to reason. It’s important to set a goal for yourself that is achievable and attainable each day to ensure you have a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction. Don’t bite off more than you can chew and instead, prioritize your tasks based on level of importance – from high to low – and work through them accordingly.

2. Set a schedule and stick to it

I’ve worked with many people who think having a routine or schedule is a bad idea but let me tell you, it’s critical to adapt to setting a schedule during isolation when you are by yourself. You can certainly set your own hours but make sure to create consistency with your routine so that you aren’t left with gaps throughout your day. The most important takeaway with setting a schedule is to ensure you stick to it.

3. Take regular breaks

Like with working in an office environment, you want to incorporate regular breaks into your daily work schedule so that you avoid feeling overwhelmed, frustrated or even risk of getting burned out. Set calendar reminders for yourself every 1 hour to get up and grab water, a snack or take a walk outside is a quick and efficient way to ensure you’re not sitting for long periods of time which could lead to health issues. 

4. Delegate work to others and ask for help

One of the most difficult skills to teach individual contributors (especially during isolation) is to learn how to delegate work and responsibilities to teammates so tasks, projects and priorities are not at risk of falling behind. A simple technique that you can try is pinging your peer or colleague via chat or email and ask if they have bandwidth to “divide & conquer” a task or project. Depending on the size of the ask, you can always, as a token of appreciation, get them an e-gift card to show how awesome of a coworker they are which I’m sure will go a long way!

5. Don’t forget to reward yourself

If you’re going to work hard, then make sure to play hard as well. Don’t beat yourself up over things that don’t go as planned or didn’t turn out as you wanted them to. Failure is a part of life and it’s something we all have to deal with at one point or another in our personal and professional lives. If you’ve been kicking butt on a major project this month and you’ve got a great handle for your area of the business, then you should consider talking to your manager about taking some time off to unwind at the beach or take a road trip because you know what? You deserve it!

I hope you found these tips helpful!

Thanks,

– Simply Sal