From: Heather
Date: March 15, 2002 11:17 AM

Hi,

When I first started freelancing, the motivation was fear: I'd left a good job to go back to school full-time but needed money to pay for it. Every cheque that came in was going out to some bill or another, with no room to spare. My former employer had me on an hourly contract, so they got as much work out of me as I could find the time to give them! I realize that's more "why" than "how," but that situation and a subsequent one where a working arrangement evolved into something awful remain good motivators for me. Now, all I need to do is think about those times and I'm ready to work.

Here's how: I keep lists of work and deadlines and each day I try to set goals: finish that PowerPoint, get through the first part of my accounting, follow-up on that contract discussion. In the mornings, I turn on the radio to some quiet background music - baroque, folk, country or soft pop. I like a good cup of coffee, but sometimes I light a candle or a stick of incense on my desk to help me concentrate. If I reach (or better, surpass) my day's goals, I can do something else to reward myself. That might be a different task, like painting a room or emptying the dishwasher, but it might also be going for a walk, doing some gardening or reading a novel.

My husband has a regular (fairly stressful) job and is gone from 7 a.m. till 6 p.m. Since I'm paid by project or by the hour, I confess I feel guilty if I've haven't accomplished enough that day, particularly if whatever I have accomplished isn't billable. One last related issue: Every year, my work dries up in early December and doesn't start again until late January. I've been aware of this for several years, so I try to spend the time doing things I have less time to do other times of the year - for example, accounting and taxes, larger jobs around the house.

Heather

From: Luke
Date: March 22, 2002 4:55 PM

Hi all,

Okay, has anyone else had an insane week? :)

Motivation for me does come in the form of fear, but not quite the same as Heather's. I'm still working for a company, albeit from home, so I don't have that fear of not having an income rolling in. My fear is mainly regarding being fired for being a lazy ass. If I don't sit here and concentrate on getting my job done, then my deadlines slip and work piles up and I look like an idiot. And let's be under no illusions that I'm the king of concentration. So from time to time this does happen.

My house is a highly exciting place to be. I have a dog that likes to play and I have boxes that have to be unpacked and I have furniture that can be moved and I have the whole world outside that looks more interesting than my laptop. Without the inherent social order of an office to keep me in check, my mind can wander. It's when I find it wandering too often and my boss becomes impatient that I start getting worried, and then VERY motivated. Not that I think I'm going to be fired any time soon, mind you. It's just good for me to keep and nurture that fear of losing my job. That's what keeps me motivated.

Luke

From: Antonia
Date: March 26, 2002 10:12 PM

Hello all,

Sorry for the late reply.

I think that my motivation is similar to others. In other ways, it is about proving to myself that I can do this -- that I can work at home, stay focused, and get things done. That, even if I am working at home, or in a traditional office environment, I am the same person.

I have slowed down the pace of my life over the last little while, and I quite enjoy that. I don't think that I could have achieved this normality if I was still in the same office dot.com start-up environment. This normalcy motivates me a great deal. I want things to stay this way.... I had my taste of tech company lunacy and I don't really want to experience that again, at least for a little while.

I also keep track of work with the to-do lists, the big checkpoints, the benchmarks, and all the other indicators that I am achieving my goals. Crossing off an item on a list, meeting a benchmark, etc. -- these are great motivators to keep on track and moving forward.

Antonia

From: Susanne
Date: March 30, 2002 4:26 PM

Any time I have any doubts about working from home because of its downsides--the isolation that can set in, the grind of continually looking for work, the unsteadiness of payment--I just think about the freedom and control I have over it all, the ability to do work when I want to and how I want to. I'm not totally slagging the corporate world (after all, I may re-enter it with a fulltime job at some point in my life), but for my life right now this type of work totally fits.

Susanne

From Lisa
Date: April 18, 2002

Hi panelists:

I think we're ready to wrap up the e-mail portion of this conversation and move to the CBC discussion thread to continue. And at this point we'll open it up to anyone else interested in participating.