“How to stay motivated as a remote developer?” is a trending question these days. Working from home may sound like a dream come true, but staying motivated while working remotely is not easy at all. Additionally, since you are not working in a professional environment, it is easy to lose self-discipline and fall behind on deadlines. Here are some tips to help you as a remote developer stay motivated and improve your focus and productivity.
Wear formal clothes
Most telecommuters prefer to work in their casual clothes, but working in casual clothes is not a good idea. This can negatively affect your productivity.
Indeed, dressing up at home doesn’t seem like much sense, but since our brains are influenced by personal and social cues to make decisions, getting dressed provides a natural cue to your brain and helps you feel alert and ready for work. Furthermore, you feel more awake and ready to face your tasks during the day.
Set aside a specific space to work
One of the most important advantages of working from home is being convenient, but your convenience should not come at the cost of reduced productivity and the inability to achieve your desired goals. If you have to work in bed or on the couch in front of the TV, you won’t be very productive.
The best thing to do is to create a dedicated work area for yourself. By creating an environment similar to the workplace, you can prepare and motivate yourself to work.
If you have a study room in your home, that’s great. Otherwise, choose a corner of the house with natural light to place your desk. Remember that it is better to keep only essential items, such as pens, notepads, water bottles, reading lights, etc., on your desk for better concentration.
Give yourself a break
Many developers get overwhelmed with their work and work long hours without a break. This may help you be more productive for a while, but eventually, exhaustion will hit you at some point and make it difficult to regain motivation.
Rest is necessary to increase energy, concentration, and productivity. Try to take a five-minute break each hour and take a full lunch break so you can return to your activity with more energy and focus. Disconnecting mentally and physically from work by doing activities such as walking, stretching, eating, or spending time with family can be a great way to relax and increase energy and motivation.
Stay in touch with your colleagues
Your colleagues depend on your work as a team member. But when you work from home, it can be easy to feel like you’re working alone and lose motivation to complete tasks on time. Do not forget colleagues who work at home or in the company. It is important to remind yourself that you are working with a group of people. Making a phone or video call to coordinate with your boss and colleagues about work or the status of projects will help you to keep in touch with what is happening in the company environment.
Make a plan
If you have a large project underway, try to break it down into manageable chunks over time. Dividing tasks and careful planning prevents you from being overwhelmed by unfinished tasks.
Setting clear goals will help you stay focused and meet deadlines more easily. Use a paper to-do list or an app like Trello to create a to-do list and cross the items off the to-do list.
To set your goals better, you can use the SMART method. Based on this method, your goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based.
Do exercise
The flexibility of working from home gives you significant benefits. Exercising is one of these benefits that developers, unfortunately, neglect due to busy work.
As a full-time developer, you spend a lot of time sitting. Lack of physical activity is not only bad for your health, but also makes you demotivated. Exercising increases your energy and productivity and helps you stay organized and motivated. Set aside an hour of your day to do any type of physical activity you like and see the physical and mental difference in yourself.
Reward yourself
Lack of motivation makes it more difficult to focus on tasks and meet deadlines. One way to stay motivated is to set things as rewards for yourself. Giving yourself small rewards at the end of each task will help keep you motivated and on track. You don’t have to set big rewards for yourself. A small reward can give you enough motivation to keep going. For example, ice cream in the fridge or watching a movie can be a reward for completing a task, but you must commit yourself not to go to the ice cream or watch that movie until you have completed that task.
Final word
As a remote developer, it can be easy to lose focus and motivation at home and miss project deadlines as a result. By following the points presented in this article, you can pursue your work tasks and goals with sufficient motivation while enjoying the benefits of remote work.
