The Sales Vault

Motivation and Work/Life Balance

A couple of weeks ago, I received a phone call from the spouse of a salesperson who works from home. It was her observation that her husband was, despite working a full day and being productive at his job, not entirely satisfied with life in general and overall, somewhat lacking in motivation. She had an idea and wanted to run it by me…

“What would you think about my rearranging his office while he’s away on a business trip?”

In hearing this, I immediately gripped both sides of my desk in order to offset the dizziness that suddenly gripped my brain. SHE WANTS TO MESS WITH HIS STUFF! WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!

Once I regained consciousness, I suggested her loving act might not be received with the same spirit in which it was intended. Naturally, these words were spoken as I was breathing into a paper bag.

Over the next few days, I ran the story and the request by several others, primarily couple friends of ours. I kept track of the results:

Men who thought this was a great idea: 0%
Women who thought this was a great idea: 100%

Look, I get it. She was only trying to help and she felt the best way to stir things up was to move things around. Even if this idea worked,* the fix would only be temporary. Very quickly, his new surroundings would become normal and the feelings of job dissatisfaction would return.

Everyone has a different motivator in this blog is about mine. On occasion, I am wrong,** but here’s the best motivator I’ve found:
• Start your day early;
• Make sure you have a plan for the day;
• Quit work at 4 PM;
• Do something that’s on your personal task list (get to that mess in the basement, do laundry, organize the garage, rake leaves, paint something, etc.).

What you’ll find is, following a plan similar to this helps bring balance to your day. A solid workday—one where you get a number of things done—is augmented by an hour or so of knocking a few personal things off of your to-do list. This is also gratifying and that positive feeling will permeate into your workday, thus restoring motivation.

Now in my 37th year of working out of my home, this is the best solution I have found to this issue and one that I follow on a regular basis. It might not work for you, I readily admit. Still, give it a try and see what you think.

*She ended up going through with her plan and her husband loved it. This means he either truly loved it or told her he loved it and sold her on that reaction. Kudos either way…and make sure you call me in a couple of weeks when those good feelings wear off.
**I am wrong quite quite often. A lot, in fact.

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