Confession time: I’ve been playing it pretty fast and loose at work these days. Punching my time card, getting what needs to be done, done. Emphasis on “needs”. All the other stuff that “should” get done, well, isn’t.
The thing is, my life kind of rocks right now. I live in this fabulous apartment in this great little neighborhood that I really want to dig into, especially now that the weather is turning. I’ve got a stack of books to read and lots of friends I want to see. I have this wonderful guy who is actually in town during the week these days.
All of this — and more — is making the daily count down to 5 p.m. much more prevalent than it ever has been. While I used to notice a nice day in passing, I now stare longingly at the sun shining out my window as I remain chained to the laptop.
My office is pretty casual. I don’t have to punch an actual time card, I can work off site (home, Starbucks, anywhere!) whenever it suits my schedule, and can pretty much make my own hours — as long as I put those hours in.
So you’d think that I’d be able to balance my need to enjoy this amazing life with my need to clock 8 hours a day. In some ways I can. When I work at home, I try to get out for a bike ride over lunch. Or I check out early and head to a yoga class. These things help, but I’m still restless.
What do you do to stay motivated at work when the weather goes from ghastly to gorgeous?
A Super Girl 
I’ve been feeling the same way lately – the second I get to work I’m counting down the minutes until I can leave. I’m going to try and splice in a few vacation days every month so I can go out and enjoy the weather during the week. I always end up running a million errands or doing housework on the weekends. We should plan a blogger day at Belle Isle so we can all enjoy the weather.
A blogger day at Belle Isle would be wonderful! Especially because I can ride my bike there 🙂 I also think I need to work in a few vacation days randomly during the week.
When the weather turns from ghastly to gorgeous, I’m first and foremost glad that (a) I worked my hours out so I leave work at 4 with plenty of daylight left and (b) I work from home a couple days a week, meaning I can run at lunch and go play when the clock strikes 4. That said, sometimes my commute sucks. And on those days, I just roll down the windows, shoot open the sunroof and take whatever Vitamin D I can get.
Working from home does help, for sure. I think I need to be better about cutting out early on days when I’ve already put in my time for the week — or just scheduling a few more random weekdays off since I have plenty of vacay time stored up.
i’m pretty unproductive lately, i’m blaming the weather. i get like this every spring! shhhh the best motivation for me is a deadline 😉
I’m with you on the deadlines. What becomes problematic is when I don’t have them for projects. I’m not so good at setting them myself!
I’m always unproductive. Especially today. I’m not very motivated to do anything special. I think it’s because I stopped caring.
HaHa! Well, stopping how much you care is a whole different issue, I’d say!
Oh man… it’s getting harder and harder to stay motivated now that the days are getting nicer. I just try to make the most of my time in the sun so that I feel like I got to enjoy it!
Good point!
Ohhhh, honey. I hear you. My motivation has tanked in the last two weeks because I’m finally seeing green on the trees and blue in the sky. It’s soooo hard!!! I just try to put my head down and hunker through.
That doesn’t help much, does it? Well, okay. Just know that I feel your pain. 🙂
I appreciate that someone feels my pain. That’s plenty 🙂
i hear you on this one for sure! i try to get out for a walk every day at lunch, or at least sit by the water and get some sunshine. small walks to dunks help in the late afternoon too, for a boost. it’s the little things!
I think getting away from my desk is definitely key! I’m good at getting out at lunch when I work at home, but not so much when I’m in the office.
A fun background picture on the computer desktop helps! I totally feel your pain. Lots of people leave at 5:30+ at my office, oh HELLS no, 4:58pm can’t come soon enough 🙂
I do have a fun pic! And you’re right — if I’m in the middle of something, I’m definitely there past 5. But on slow days (like every day lately), it’s all I can do to make it until 5!
I try to set aside 10 minutes at lunch to go outside and get some sunshine. yes, it’s tough to go back but that helps me at least enjoy some of it in case my day runs long and it’s dark when I leave. Summer is definitely a challenge.
Try to leave early a lot.
Hmmm. Probably not the best idea, is it? 😉