For a lot of people, their passion is their “side-hustle”, something they do on the side of doing their day job or higher education.

Thanks to this, pursuing your creative tasks and trying to build something outside of the usual 9-5 (whether it be a business, a chance to break into another industry, or something else) usually means finding a way to get lots of stuff done in a relatively short space of time.

When you work 40 hours a week at your day job, you have to make the most of your free time to work on whatever it is that’s calling you, whether it be video editing for a Youtube channel, writing blog posts, promoting your social media, building your community… or even rehearsing for a show. For a lot of people, it can be a tricky balancing act trying to stay motivated when they are tired or are seeing very slow progress.

So how can you optimise the time you work at home to get the best results, without working yourself into exhaustion? And how can you stay motivated when on one side you have Netflix, and the other side you have your fridge??

I have a few tricks up my sleeve!

1 – Try the Pomodoro Method.

The Pomodoro method is a really simple “time management” method where you work consistently for 25 minutes, then you take a 5-minute break.

The only rule is that when you are in the 25-minute working time you can ONLY do your work, and nothing else. You can’t let yourself get distracted, and you can’t get up to get a drink. It can be hard to discipline yourself to work even for 25 minutes, so knowing that you only have to work for short increments before taking a short break can help you to stay motivated and productive.

The good news is this method can work with anything, from writing content for your website to rehearsing your lines. You can even download the app and have it working in the background as you’re working!

2 – Dress the part.

A lot can be said for the psychological element that clothes have when we wear them.

If you wake up in your pyjamas on Saturday and stay in them all day, you’re probably not going to be in the “work” mindset. Get up, get clean and put on some really nice clothes that make you feel good and ready to tackle the day, and your work.

3 – Set clear, achievable goals.

When you know exactly what you want, and you consider all the steps it will take to get there, it is so much easier to know what to do and when. Rather than seeing a mountain in front of you with your “end goal” at the top, you see a path with lots of markers, telling you you’re a quarter of the way there, now a half, now three quarters…  

It makes a huge difference to your motivation because it makes a seemingly long and hard task seem so much easier. You feel more in control of reaching your goal, and you know what to do to stay on track.

4 – Surround yourself with motivated people.

Sometimes we need people to help remind us what it is we’re working for. Even the most passionate artist can lose hope and faith when tiredness or despair strikes – and it happens to all of us.

Being surrounded by people who understand and are of a like mind – and spending time with those who will push you to carry on even when you don’t feel like it – can be a great source of motivation. Even if it’s just a quick coffee with a fellow artist, it can do wonders for your productivity!

5 – Understand what you gain from doing this task.

The problem with a lot of everyday tasks is that they’re really boring and don’t seem to give us any reward for doing them. Going to the post office to send a letter to your electricity company, or emailing someone about a refund… they’re hardly likely to stir any excitement in your soul.

The thing is, your passion will also have aspects that you don’t really enjoy, such as administrative tasks, or trying to figure out how to resize an image to fit your Twitter page etc. But if you understand how they fit in to the “bigger picture” you’ll feel far more motivated to do them. The same can be said for most things in life.

Understanding the positive effect they’ll have will spur you on to do them. Perhaps you hate trying to figure out how to resize an image for your Twitter header… but when it’s done all your social media will look cohesive and you will have a more professional identity!

6 – Set up your workspace.

Don’t work whilst sitting in your bed or whilst absent-mindedly watching TV! Have a set workplace, make it really welcoming and enjoyable to be in, and have that space only for working.

Make it light, airy and organised, with plenty of room to spread your work out… somewhere you’ll look forward to sitting for long amounts of time. The plus side is that everywhere else in your house will then be relaxing in comparison as you will have just one space reserved for work, and the rest for chilling.

7 – Get organised.

It’s so much easier to work when everything is kept up-to-date, things are neat and tidy, and you know where everything is. Simple things like not saving your files in the right place, having a messy desktop (both physical and computer), not saving appointments into your calendar etc are all sure ways to make you dread doing any task.

With so many problems and so much effort required just to, for example, find the right file, it’ll only give you more reason to procrastinate. Help yourself and stay organised!

8 – Let yourself rest.

There’s no use in forcing yourself to work work work when you can’t concentrate on the work you want to do. If you’re simply too tired, or your brain has done enough for the day and needs to relax, let it! Consistently forcing yourself to work when you’re exhausted will lead to burnout and even depression.

If it means limiting your side-passion to only 2 days a week then that may be the option you have to take. There’s no use in trying to build something great when you don’t have the health to sustain it.

Do you find it hard to stay motivated when creating from home? Leave a comment below!