Working from home, bored, lonely, unmotivated - anyone else feel the same?

[heksie]

Hi anyone else in a similar position? I am working from home doing admin for my husband's company (eek) and I am really struggling to get motivated each day. In fact I have to confess when my DS (6) goes to school I go back to bed!! I just don't seem to have much motivation to get up and go like when I was working in an office 9 to 5:30. I am SOOO missing people to chat to. Going to the gym just makes me more depressed, thats like being lonely with people around you!! Ah, I sound so pathetic. Inspiration, suggestions anyone, how can I kickstart my enthusiasm again?

bump - i have been in this position for ages and can't seem to change my mindset no matter how I try......

Thanks for replying _ at least I am not the only one! I don't want to throw in the towel and admit I need structure....

if you have time to go to bed...then you have time to do something better, later in the day. arrange to meet someone for coffee at half two (or whatever) then you HAVE to get your work done. or enter a marathon. then you HAVE to go running 4 times week. (and it's brilliant).

you have more time than work but you're not filling the extra time. there's nothing like making yourself busy, giving yourself deadlines, having some long-term goals.

(and I wasn't joking about a marathon.)

lol a marathon, wow, I can hardly get out of bed! But I see your point, maybe I need a higher purpose for each day!

I DO have someone to go for coffee with on a Thursday, but I keep cancelling. I am rubbish, I need a kick in the pants. Sorry if I sound so pathetic , but that makes me feel better, I DO have someone to meet with! Yay!

(active jogging person bounces past the front room window, making me feel more lazy)

I think the less you have to do the less you want to do. It doesn't sound as if you're under enough pressure to be honest! Can you take work out with you and go and sit in a coffee shop to do it? Then at least you'd get out of the house and there'd be a bit of bustle around

Alright I'm looking at charity type walks/marathons, thats got me a bit more excited... and been looking into local groups

got coffee booked for tomorrow

Yes LadyB I need more to do, hubby is incredibly busy but doesn't pass stuff over to me much. Its his 'baby' and he keeps saying I will be made director but its all talk

I have been working at home to varying degrees since 1996. It is hard.

The trick is to get yourself an 'office' routine. I have a friend who gets up, puts on a suit, has his breakfast, walks out to get his paper, walks home, then goes straigt to his office which is in a shed in his garden.

In effect, he works as if he is not at home.

I have been where you are.

If you're going back to bed in the mornings, you're almost certainly either anaemic or suffering moderate depression - get yourself down to the doctor for a blood test and start taking some exercise and some tri-omega cod liver oil.

You have to be busy. It sounds like your husband's job isn't enough to keep you buzzing, Take on more work (perhaps for other local businesses requring part-time admin support), or volunteer in a local charity shop or community venture.

If your husband's business is providing your entire income you simply don't have the main motivator to work, which is to service living costs (and debt ). You need to do more or you will go insane. I did go nuts (no kids to take up my time), which is why I had to return, tale between legs, to the company I'd left 18 months previously in order to freelance and downshift.

I work from home too and find it can be quite isolating sometimes, so you're definitely not alone!

I try and go out and meet people for lunch/coffee once a week. It does help to make it seem less like groundhog day as there can be little distinction between work and home life. Piles of paper and files serve as constant reminders of work that you're supposed to do.

Perhaps it's the nature of the work? I love 80% of my work, and the time just flies.... 4 hours can go by in a whir without me even noticing. But, there is that 20% that I don't enjoy so much and am far less motivated to tackle. Like, accounts, for example. Can you speak to your husband to try and take some more interesting work off him to vary things a bit?

Also, do you have a specific area in the home where you do your work? I find that having a bit more of a professional set up makes a difference to my mindset.

I think if you make a few tweaks, it might make a big difference to how you feel.

Good luck!

I get up, sort the kids, do school run, stop at the gym, swim a mile and do either one or two hours of yoga classes (and chat)
then I come home and do an hour of "housework" and our of emails and discussion boards and updating DH's website, shopping etc
then I get the kids
while they do homework I work
and in the evenings.

Part of the year I have to work out on site full time.
But not on Fridays as that is my yoga/swimming special day.

Gyms in the daytime are full of mums and EXCELLENT networking places!!

Hi Heksie,

I work from home alone a lot - but also with others half the week, so it's not quite as isolating as your situation, but it used to be.

A couple of things that helped me:

I've read a few reports that say most office workers do an average of 4 hours work a day - the rest of the time they socialise. This isn't necessarily laziness (and I know we all work flat out sometimes.) Being sociable for part of the day makes you more productive for the rest of the day. I used to notice that on days when i walked my friend's dog with her and chatted until 10am after school drop off, I got far more done by lunchtime than if I went straight home to the computer.

Make a few sociable breaks in each day: coffee with a friend; the gym, lunch etc and build your work day round them rather than the other way round.

To get going, use a kitchen timer set for five minutes and start the work day by sorting mail or replying to emails etc for just five minutes. Then make yourself a cup of coffee and set it for another five minutes etc until you are focused for a longer period. Just doing five minute chunks of work shows you how efficient you can be - how much you can achieve quickly, and it gets you going.

But this stuff won't help if you don't actually enjoy the work. I love what I do so don't care that I'm alone a lot. Just cos he's your husband doesn't mean you have to like the work. If you don't, look elsewhere and hire someone else as office admin. Discuss it with your DP too, maybe. He might have some ideas to make you feel less isolated.