To just have no motivation to do any work at home?

[BuzzOffMate]

I'm WFH at the moment and my motivation has gone. I'm just sitting staring at my computer, watching bits of TV, worrying about life generally, cleaning the house etc... I just have no motivation to do any actual work.

I'm a conveyancer so I just keep thinking it's only a matter of time before I'm either laid off or furloughed which isn't helping my feelings of 'fuck it'. I feel like I'm essentially working toward absolutely nothing at the moment.

I'm not usually a workshy slob but I just can't get into it. Anyone else feeling this way?

Yep, exactly the same. I have a few bits to do but none are urgent or even very interesting. I think furlough will be coming my way this week and I’d rather it just happened to be honest. The company wasn’t in great shape before this anyway and I’m worried I won’t have a job once it’s all over. Really struggling mentally now.

Also - ordinarily I love to work and am super productive from home. But this time I just can’t get into it. Which makes me feel even worse! I hate feeling like I’m being lazy work wise.

Oh all the time! I'm freelance...a copywriter... and for some reason, this whole mess has brought a TONNE of work to me and I can't seem to bloody DO it!

I keep thinking "Well, we'll all be scavenging for internet hours soon...and there'll only be diseased water to drink.."

But we CAN'T think like that Buzz. It's what causes the downfall of society. If people don't get on with shit, then shit goes wrong.

We've got to pay rent and mortgages as long as we're able...we've got to do the work while it's there.

If this thing has shown us one thing it's that things can change overnight. Everything could recover quite quickly...

Same here. I don’t have any structure to my day and I have very little work, which means I struggle even to complete that. Trying to be more disciplined for the next week - ie I’ll sit and work for an hour straight then have an hours break - it’s amazing how much you can actually get done in an hour.

Same feeling here

Yes Winter, I feel the same. I just wish it would happen now so I can stop worrying about it happening and just deal with it having happened does that make sense?

Last week I actually still had a lot of new matters come in however after the announcement that conveyancing is essential 'put on hold' from now I can't imagine I'll get any more.

I just want to get in bed and sleep till this is over or watch some stupid Netflix series to forget for a while.

Yes definitely, I’m planning for things that might never happen. I hate making phone calls in the house where DP can hear me. I hate not having colleagues to go over things with face to face and all interaction being scheduled. It makes me feel sad. But I think we WILL get used to it and pull ourselves together, right?

I was fine for the first week.

Now there’s been talk of pay cuts and furloughing my motivation has nose dived. I don’t want to be furlough as I’d worry about being taken back on. I work in the construction industry and I’m worried that those furloughed won’t be taken back.

From Wednesday I’m going to be paid 10% less for a stressful job with long hours. I was due a big pay increase for April as I’ve recently taken on more responsibility. Now instead I’ll get paid less instead of more and still have the stress of the job 🙄

But apparently we’re all meant to try and work even harder than we would normally

I’ve also really struggled to get into ‘work mode’

And like Berry I'm accustomed to working from home and getting it done...for people who aren't used to working from home, the uncertainty combined with a new working situation must be very tricky.

Shut the door of whatever room you're in. What helps me concentrate is putting on a soundtrack of rain and city streets. Don't ask why! It must be something to do with white noise.

I think there’s a lot of value in walking into a meeting. Shaking someone’s hand and us all sitting around in our suits

I've worked from home for ages. On my own.
Now everyone is here too I can't function!
I love that we are all safe under the same roof but can't work like this. I need the solitude

Yes me too. I work for a pharmacy retailer so some people are extremely busy & actually doing some good/something useful whereas I work on products which rely solely on travel so I've little to do.

As sickness increases I might be redeployed somewhere useful which would be better.

Although I am extremely grateful DH & i still have jobs & that our companies will weather the storm

Yes Brooksey, a couple of my friends have had to take a 20% pay cut rather than be furloughed. But like you say we're all supposed to work ten times harder.

It's so worrying

It's hard as I wasn't prepared very well either. I had to isolate the week that my company was moving to remote working so I was essentially in the office as normal one week and then at home the next, I had now opportunity to collect anything from the office so I've got no files here, no paperwork etc... I'm having to rely on other colleagues to send me pictures of what's on certain files etc...

Had no**

I know a lot of it is anxiety around the current situation but one good trick I can share.

Set a timer for 20 mins and agree with yourself that you'll throw yourself into it and work really hard for 20mins. Then you'll take a 10 min break.

Time both of them on your phone so an alarm goes off.

Carry on splitting the day up into 20 mins with a 10 min break but during the 20 mins you have to be all in, working hard. Tell yourself it's only 20mins, it goes really quickly.

You can intersperse 20mins of other tasks in between work.

Sometimes you'll get so into what you're doing that you'll keep going after 20mins is up (and that's fine, keep going while you're in the zone).

Anyone can do anything for 20mins.

It's called the Pomodoro technique and I use it a lot for work and chores.

Love that @wheresmymojo thanks!

Yes, pomodoro method is great. There’s apps for it.

Yes. I've always needed a pressing deadline to do my best work and atm I have none. There are plenty of things I could do but no one cares atm and by the time we get back, who knows what people will care about?

I feel very guilty though, so I'm not doing the stuff I could do at home either.

I have a (virtual) management meeting this afternoon. I'm hoping someone's going to put some pressure on me!

I’m used to working from home as I usually WFH a couple of days a week and my job has adapted to make it full time remote working, but I’m still finding it hard.
I have a stressful job and need to decompress and practice self care. This part is getting tougher.
It’s like my working life and expectations are continuing, but all the “life” around it has ground to a halt. I don’t have my writing group, or my musical theatre group, or the beer festival, or the pub quiz. So I’ve got all the usual pressures of work without the fun bits of life that help me get through.
I’ll be fine, I’m finding other ways to practice self care. I’m sitting in the garden with a glass of wine, and I’m doing virtual pub quizzes on Zoom. But I often find that I have moments when I look at my laptop and mentally struggle to be “in the zone”.

I'm the same. I am finding it really hard to get motivated. Ironically I also work in conveyancing. At the moment I am sitting on the sofa playing with my phone 🤔.

I work from home normally but even I'm struggling –there's just a sense of "what's the point". But I'm trying to shake that feeling. Agree with @wheresmymojo's tip about working in short spurts. Also playing "office noise" on YouTube helps me when my motivation is nowhere to be seen!

No, I am motivated, but currently being massive frustrated by having my virtual machine moved between world areas. This means I have to install things like office every time as well as check that all my internal links are still there and working.
Last week it took 9.5 hours. This week it looks like it is a bit quicker, but I still needed to "re-order" some comms software, where there is an approval process.
Add into the mix that there are some very odd goings-on with the myriad "agencies" I currently work through and it is frustration all round here. I am 1 e-mail away from resigning (contractor) because I feel very messed around. I probably won't, but I can see that it would be easy for the end client to stop all projects for the foreseeable future and get rid of all contract staff.
Mind you I have worked in organisations where they did the "all externals out" and it back-fired massively.

I have started fully home working today (was on compassionate leave last week) and I am finding it hard to get going.

It's nearly midday and I have done hardly anything. It's not for lack of things to do -I have absolutely loads to do. I think I am missing the structure I normally have in my days.

Plus my son (6) is obviously at home so I am trying to fit stuff in with him. That took an hour this morning on his school work. In fairness, he is a good kid who will happily play/watch tv while I do stuff but then it's sorting his lunch etc.

Husband is around and doesn't have work to do (he is a gardener- v part time these days. Works for us but means he is home with me a lot at the moment). So he wants to chat to me, have cups of tea together etc. All very nice but not conducive to doing very much work.

I'm also still sorting things out from my bereavement so that takes time as well.

I may become nocturnal for a while and work when they are in bed Not sure what my team would think of that arrangement though!