How to stay motivated while working at home

You decided to work at home for a reason. Maybe you wanted more time with your family, or maybe you have a disability that keeps you from working outside the home. But as loneliness sets in, it can be hard to keep going, and reminding yourself why you work at home just isn’t always enough.
The first thing you will always need to remember is to get out of the house regularly. You can feel trapped if you do nothing but stay home all day. On your days off or when you have time, get out and do something. It doesn’t have to be anything special. If you’ve had too much time with the kids, get someone to watch them and head out with your friends.
In this same vein, take enough time off from working at home. Don’t feel like you have to be on call 24/7. Turn off the computer and get some good family time. Emails can wait and your voicemail can handle most calls.
Is the clutter in your home office getting to you? It might be time to get organized. Take an hour or two or more and get rid of the clutter. File all those papers and reshelf your reference books and binders. Find where all the pens are hiding and put them where they belong.
Do the same for your computer files. Take a look at all those free ebooks you downloaded and decide if you are really EVER going to read them. You’ll probably get rid of most of them. Make sure your files are organized into folders and subfolders so that you can find them quickly. Clean the desktop on your computer screen if it is too hard to find things there.
If you own your business, try not to spend an excessive amount of time on discussion boards and so forth. It’s probably not as productive as working on other aspects of your business. Leave them for when your work is done.
If you are not on some sort of a schedule already, try making one. It can be pretty flexible, but try to set aside regular work hours and play hours. You don’t want to overdo your work hours even when you’re just getting started, but spending too little time working at home won’t help your motivation either.
Avoid negativity from friends and family who just don’t understand how you can make a living working at home. You know you can do it, but it’s hard being told day after day that you need to get a “real job.” When you’re discouraged about your progress, talk to someone who believes you’re doing the right thing. It is very easy to focus only on the fact that it’s hard to get work done at home and your business isn’t earning that much, but it is far more satisfying to look back and see how much progress you have made.
Finally, remember that when you are working at home, whether for yourself or an employer, in a very real sense you are your own boss. There’s no one standing behind you telling you to get to work (unless you have a bossy toddler so do what it takes to keep yourself moving and on schedule.