Struggling/in a rut with working from home

[strugglingtowfh]

I've been struggling with working from home and slipped into some bad habits. I have meetings usually on Mondays and Thursdays, the other days I tend to stay in my PJs and I've even started working from my bed. I feel really lethargic and depressed and struggle with motivation unless I'm busy/stressed.

This week I have a few things on my to-do list but nothing urgent, and I'm struggling with having no motivation and I'm dragging tasks out. It's like I need a sense of urgency and stress to motivate me.

I've written a to-do list out for this afternoon but, again, nothing is urgent and I know once it's done I'll have nothing to do tomorrow. I am at the office tomorrow which should help

Does anyone have any advice? I've only been WFH for 6 months or so.

you are going to damage your back if you continue to work from your bed. You need to get some routines going. can you allocate a working area ideally with a decent desk and chair. Get into a routine of starting at a certain time/ending/having breaks. How would you work if you were in the office? ie how do you manage your day/workload, do you have lists, who allocates stuff to you?

I feel your pain. I have been wfh for 2 years now and really taking its toll on me emotionally.

I am trying to keep active as well as trying not to go to my bed but here I am writing this in bed

Separation between life and work is a gift to yourself. Keep bed a space for you. You don’t want to start associating it with work.

I have worked from home a lot over the years in several roles where I have been home based as a remote employee. I always found it helps to get up and get showered and dressed in the morning as it refreshes you and is something you'd do if you were going to an office. I wouldn't necessarily wear office type clothes for my role but I would definitely get dressed into clothes rather than lougewear. It can be very isolating working from home and after a lot of days in the house I would find it hard to concentrate so I would work from a coffee shop for a bit of the day (if I could do non confidential tasks etc.) or colleagues in bigger cities used to use free shared workspace opportunities in their area (Virgin Money used to have them). Could you have a hybrid type arrangement with your work where you can be in a workplace a few days a week?

I feel like this quite often, it is really difficult especially on days when you don't have a nice full diary of meetings.

The three things I've found have helped me are:

1. Have a routine. Challenge yourself to getup and dressed five days on the trot and it will soon become a habit that you won't even have to think about.
2. Exercise. I do a short sharp Joe Wicks on days I need motivation. That and a cold shower afterwards have an amazing effect on my energy & motivation for the whole day. I was rubbish at first but as long as you get your heart rate up you'll be rewarded with energy later on.
3. Get outdoors. Is there somewhere you can go for a brisk walk nearby? Even just 15 minutes round the block will make a difference. If you know anyone else locally who can walk with you, all the better.

I can't work from home. Because I just don't do any work. I've got no self discipline and if I don't have anything urgent to do I can't get myself motivated. I'd love to be able to as it would make the rest of life easier but I know myself better than to even attempt it! When I did it I was like you OP-working (or not really) from
Bed and I got miserable and worse at my job. That doesn't help you I know-but I do think there are some people and I'm one-that just can't do it!

I’m the same. No motivation. No discipline. I watch so much daytime tv and I never use to do it.

I think I’m going to force myself to walk the dog first thing (poor thing doesn’t like mornings!) so that at least I have to get dressed and that should help start my day.