Mindset for Life

Mindset for Life


#62: A Mindset for Working from Home

March 01, 2021

Are you working from home? A mindset for working from home means that you can experience confidence, fulfillment, and joy while working from home. And you can experience life balance and quality relationships while working from home. Does this sound like a dream? It's not. It is entirely possible. Join me for today's podcast, to get encouragement and tips to develop a mindset for working from home.

What is challenging when you're working from home?
When working from home, it is easy to allow the work to spread out throughout the day. This means there are poor boundaries around time spent and tasks to be done. It might also mean that we put ourselves last. When doing this, we lose confidence. We become stressed and overwhelmed. And pretty soon, things seem uncontrollable.

Beyond the stress and overwhelm, working from home can seem less fulfilling, in many ways. For example, we are not down at the office (or at the school, for you educators), seeing the physical reminder that we are professionals doing a "real" job. We don't have casual opportunities to run into people in the hallway, exchange ideas, and feel uplifted from a random five-minute conversation.
A Mindset for Working from Home Can Help
With a mindset for working from home, you can gain confidence over time. Confidence comes from noticing what went well every day, or at least every week. As you notice what went well, and you write this down, over time you build evidence of what you're accomplishing and completing. Even a little time spent on a project that was less focused than you would like is a win, when you're working from home in unusual circumstances. You might not notice your confidence growing at first, but as you develop the habit of noticing and reflecting on what went well over time you will grow in confidence that eventually becomes powerful.

This kind of mindset can also help you find fulfillment in your work. Fulfillment comes from not only noticing what went well, but looking for why it went well. Much of the time, you had a direct impact on what went well during your day. As you notice your own role in the positive "wins," this brings fulfillment. You might also notice others' impact on what went well, which can lead to feelings of gratitude. Your own role and others' impacts on positive aspects of your day come together to create meaning and fulfillment.

And what about joy? Joy comes from allowing yourself the space to experience the full range of your emotions, including the positive ones. You might find joy in anticipating a positive result, and then achieving it. Perhaps joy might come from noticing something like a puppy dancing around his toy. Joy can come from letting go of pressure and judgement, and accepting what is happening in the present. And of course, joy comes from connecting with other people.

These ideas, and more, can help you enjoy working from home with confidence, fulfillment, and joy. For more on these ideas, and to take them further in your own life, consider working with a professional coach. If now is the right time for you to try coaching, let me know.
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