Listen to the Latest Podcast Episode
Episode 47: Signs You're Not In Control of Your Career—And What You Can Do About It with Erika Ayers Badan
0:00
43:34

How to Keep it Confident While Working From Home

Whether you're on day one or day one thousand of working from home, your confidence can start to deteriorate. We put together some tips on how to remain confident while working from your living room.

Remember breezing into the office five minutes early with a steaming hot coffee for your work wife? 
How about belly laughing with your coworkers over a celebratory lunch after a huge milestone? And then there's the time your boss slowed down on her midday walk around the office to tell you what a great job you're doing—with a huge smile. 
We know there's slogging through a commute, there's the crappy office coffee you drink just to get you through that 3 o'clock slump, and there's spending hours and hours of every week in the same fluorescent-lit office, but isn't there also a little bit of romance in working from an office?
Maybe not romance, but there's human connection. There's a physical pat on the back. There's real-time, face-to-face collaboration when you work in an office. Maybe you miss it, maybe you don't. Regardless of your feelings on the permanence of working from home, you may have felt a little bit of digital fatigue and momentary lapses of confidence. 

The Downside of Working From Home 

Working from home is great—seriously!
As with anything, there are ups and downs. For example, many have reported suffering from Zoom fatigue, endless meetings intended to replicate in-office chatter, and an overall lack of recognition. 
Since working from home, have you asked yourself the following, "Does anybody even notice what I'm doing?" 
It can be difficult to feel seen when working remotely. Sure, your boss might love you, your work, and your ideas. But, maybe she hasn't had the time to express that. In short, we're all learning how to operate remotely—from the ground up. That includes your boss. 

How to Cultivate Lasting Confidence While Working From Home 

At the date of publish, we are just over seven months into our "new normal", COVID 19 life. 
Many of us have made tiny workspaces in the corners of our kitchens, in the garage, or in our bedrooms. Working parents have navigated impossible decisions when it comes to balancing a full-time job, education, childcare, and what to do about all of it. In short, nothing is easy—and everything is hard. 
But, in the words of Glennon Doyle, "We can do hard things." 
In the face of an uncertain future based in our homes, we think the most important thing we can hold on to is confidence. That's why we put together 6 ways to make sure you can gather confidence to fuel your work from home productivity

1. Create checkpoints with your leadership and/or your team

Getting feedback is tough. No, we're not saying that hearing negative feedback is tough (though that is also true). We're saying it can be difficult to get feedback to begin with. When working from home, like it or not, many of us exist in somewhat of a personal silo. We're not in the same office, hearing the same noises, or facing the same distractions.
Everyone is in their own space, doing their thing—when it comes to work responsibilities and home responsibilities. 
Feedback is the key to constant, meaningful growth at work. Feedback is more than a Slack message saying "great job" or "you misspelled this word." So, how do you get real feedback? Take it to your weekly schedule, that's how! Do your work to create checkpoints with your team and/or your leadership. Create weekly, monthly, or quarterly meetings and stick to it

2. Ask for support when you need it (and be the support when you can) 

Just like asking for feedback, you'll want to ask for support when you need it. 
You see, this strange thing happens when your work lives at your house with you. Sometimes, you just don't stop working—and you should, you really should. It's just not sustainable to be "at work" 24 hours a day. if you're constantly pulling 60 or 70-hour weeks, ask for support. If your work from home situation is difficult due to limited space or childcare responsibilities, ask for help.
One amazing aspect of remote work is that it can be flexible and creative. Brainstorm new solutions—either on your own or with management—to make it work for your specific needs. 

3. Share your wins (and share your colleague's wins) 

Work. Home. Work. Home. Work. Home. On repeat. Times 1000. 
Break up the monotony by setting goals. When you achieve those goals, celebrate the heck out of them! Don't let big wins go unnoticed—whether they are yours or they belong to a colleague. It's important, whenever possible, to be human, crack open a kombucha, and celebrate. 

4. Learn new skills + create progress reports for yourself 

Always be learning new skills. Not sure what's the most marketable skill for your position—or for your next desired position? Easy! Google your job titles, open a job description, and highlight the skills you could develop. 
Now go learn it! Job descriptions are the ultimate cheat sheet. Look at them often and keep yourself competitive with the best of the best in your field. 

5. Keep your resume and LinkedIn up-to-date

Remember how you scrambled to update your resume and your LinkedIn profile the last time you were job hunting
Don't save your achievements, updates, and professional accomplishments for your next job search. Always keep your LinkedIn and resume up-to-date and fresh. This keeps you at the top of your game—and it's a really great way to actually keep track of all that you are doing. 

6. Write a confidence mantra (don't roll your eyes at us, just do it!) 

Yeah, we know, but it helps! 
Before creating your mantra, identify when your confidence tends to dip. Is it after a long night of work? Is it when you can't seem to solve a problem quickly enough? Is it because someone else achieved something and you're getting a little green with envy? 
Whenever it is, create a mantra to pull you out of it. One helpful mantra we've been using through COVID-19 is "We're all doing the best we can." And we are. And so are you. 

Tags:

You May Also Like

How-to-Become-a-Morning-Person-(11-Tricks-to-Try-Today) Image
Work + Life Balance
How to Become a Morning Person (11 Tricks to Try Today)

Stay away from that snooze button. Try these tricks to become the morning person you always wanted to be!

Use-the-Prioritization-Matrix-to-Organize-Your-To-Dos-+-Prioritization-Matrix-Template Image
Work + Life Balance
Use the Prioritization Matrix to Organize Your To-Dos + Prioritization Matrix Template

What is the prioritization matrix and how does it work? Here's how to hack into this way to get things done by order of importance using the Six Sigma + Eisenhower matrices.

5-Science-Backed-Tips-to-Start-Better-Habits-(+-Break-Bad-Habits)- Image
Work + Life Balance
5 Science-Backed Tips to Start Better Habits (+ Break Bad Habits)

How do you build new habits? Conversely, how do you get rid of old habits that no longer serve you? We turned to science to find out how to build, alter, and ditch habits.

The-3-Step-Method-to-Stop-Making-Careless-Mistakes-at-Work Image
Work + Life Balance
The 3-Step Method to Stop Making Careless Mistakes at Work

Are you making mistakes at work? If the answer is yes, then slow down, take a breather, and follow these steps to stop making careless mistakes in the workplace.

How-To-Beat-The-Sunday-Scaries:-26-Ways-to-Ease-Your-Monday-Dread Image
Work + Life Balance
How To Beat The Sunday Scaries: 26 Ways to Ease Your Monday Dread

Get rid of the Sunday scaries once and for all with these tips on making the most of your week and weekend, taking care of yourself, and improving overall wellness.

How-to-Recognize-+-Recover-from-a-Burnout-Diagnosis- Image
Work + Life Balance
How to Recognize + Recover from a Burnout Diagnosis

Burnout is real—like, really real. Recently recognized by the World Health Organization, work burnout is a serious diagnosis. Here's what you need to know.

How-to-Text-Your-Boss-When-You-Can't-Come-In Image
Work + Life Balance
How to Text Your Boss When You Can't Come In

You're sick, your car is in the shop, or you're dealing with a family emergency. Whatever the reason, here's how to appropriately text your boss when you can't come in.

7-TED-Talks-on-How-to-Better-Manage-Your-Time-at-Work Image
Work + Life Balance
7 TED Talks on How to Better Manage Your Time at Work

Time management is a hot topic because it's a hard topic. Here are our favorite TED Talks on managing your time with ease.

Why-I-Ditched-the-Idea-of-
Work + Life Balance
Why I Ditched the Idea of "The Dream Job"

Why is it so hard to ditch the idea of a "dream job?" Learn how I tackle the dream job conundrum in my new book, Power Moves.