Motivating yourself to sit down and crank out the work it takes to get a job can be difficult, especially because you have the freedom to do all your work from home. Our homes are usually full of distractions. In some ways this is a good thing, it is nice to have a lot of little pleasures inside our homes, but it does make motivation more difficult. Because of this (and a whole host of other reasons) we recommend working not from home, but out of a local coffee shop or café. Bringing your laptop out into the world might just be the perfect solution to curing your motivation hang-ups.
Spend a day finding all the good spots in your area. Search out coffee shops, cafés, and even bars that have a good atmosphere. You want to find a place that is relatively quiet, but still has a decent amount of activity. Look for laptops and sketchbooks, and go to places where people are using those. Other than that it does not matter much what the environment is, just that it is not your home, and other people are working from it.
Why? First off, we gain from mixing up our surroundings. When we change our environment, even to just a coffee shop, we force our brains to respond to new stimuli- which spurs creativity and wakes up our brains. Even if you are accustomed to your coffee shop it will always be less familiar than your house is. This forces you to deal with a new situation which helps get you going. Pretending a specific coffee shop is your office will also help you get back into the routine of commuting to work, even if the commute is a lot shorter.
Another big benefit to working in a public space is that it is public. We are far less likely to sit around scrolling through Facebook or Twitter if we feel like we are being watched. Though no one is actually going to judge you if you do, knowing that people are around and can see what you are doing can be helpful for giving you some accountability. When we sit in an empty house with our computer there is no external presence to help us stay on track. The public nature of a coffee shop is also good because there will be other people working on other things. This is good to be around for a number of reasons. First off it is inspiring. Seeing other people work makes us want to work too, even if their work has absolutely nothing to do with what you are doing.
Finally, you never know who you might meet. As you are sending out your CV to a bunch of different places looking for a graphic designer, you may look across the room and see someone working on a logo, strike up a conversation and start working for their start-up. You may meet someone who happens to know the person you are about to interview with. Stay social and open to the idea that you might meet someone who can help you on your career path. This happens all the time.
Working from home is really comfortable, but it may not be the best idea for your career. The public hustle and bustle of a coffee shop might be the perfect way to keep your productivity up, re-motivate you, and could even be the place where you make a connection that pans into a job! Click here to view: Jobs in Albany