How do you stay motivated when teaching online?

[Bella]

Hello Hello!

Being an online instructor can feel like a roller-coaster ride, and sometimes staying motivated can be challenging. But in spite of all the challenges, you always manage to keep your head up, look for motivation, and keep moving forward -- and we are very proud of that! 

So today we want to ask you: How do you stay motivated when teaching online?

Share your tips in the comments below!

[Ramesh Fadatare]

Most of the time I am motivated whenever Students appreciate my work and found my content useful. 

[Joyfulee]

Agree with Ramesh. Seeing your learners (and even potential learners) benefitting from what you teach makes it more worthwhile. That is what would motivate me. 

[MichaelPog]

Same here.
There have been so many times I wanted to quit, for many reasons.
But then getting a message or review from a student saying how great my course was, how much they learned from it after struggling for years, or how they got inspired to learn more about a topic thanks to my course made all the difference to me.

Knowing of other instructors' struggles actually, in a weird way is motivating. It's not that I'm happy that other people struggle. It's knowing that you're not alone in it that helps.

[FrankKane]

For me it's more about the constant sense of accomplishment. Whether it's recording a section of a new course, getting an older course 100% up to date, or implementing some new marketing idea - every day there's an achievable goal you can set for yourself, and it feels good when it's achieved.

[Blogging Betty Boomer]

I am especially encouraged by your focus to maintain quality maintenance.  Thank you!

[JohnBura]

The biggest motivator for me is increasing sales. I equate sales with doing a good job.  More sales = more learning. 

Biggest turn-off - decreasing sales. Decreasing sales means that my courses are not as useful and people aren't learning enough. 

[JulianJenki396]

For me its waking up every morning and reading the reviews. 

The words of the students, really motivate me to do more.

[TrevoirWill]

Good reviews = Good vibes. Bad reviews = Motivation to do better.

Seeing that my content actually helps persons is enough motivation for me to continue putting out courses and sharing knowledge.

Sometimes I lose steam in the middle of creating a course, but that usually happens when I am going without a break. Setting achievable daily targets helps to keep you on track and amped up to the end.   

[PhillipBurton]

I look at how many students, from all around the world, I have helped.

How many have been able to pass their exams.

Some have even been able to get better jobs because of what they have done. And these are people I have never met, from countries I have never gone to.

Remember - it's not about you. It's about them.

---

I also think about how I am improving the future of my children and my family. With the extra money I am earning, I am able to reshape their futures as well.

I also think about how much more time I am able to spend with the children. For example, we have summer holidays coming up, and there is a lot of time to spend with the children. These breaks from work also help me to take a break, and come back refreshed and motivated.

Phillip

[Rudranil Chakrabortty]

Yes, definitely what everyone else is pointing at - helping learners get to their goals, feeling good about adding something on the internet that may last for a while, and obviously earning a part of living from the courses.

There is something I must say here - every once in a while, in my course creation research, I end up clearing my own doubts. It has helped me in my consultation projects.

[GuilhermeMP]

Well, I try to gamify the course production process. I use a lot of small strategies, some of them common, some of them unusual, in conjunction, to stay motivated

These strategies are...

1. The good and old task list, in which I divide my goal in very small, achievable, procrastination-proof steps

2. Imagining that my course will be part of a collection, and that the next course is the course that my personal colection is lacking 

3. I get motivated everytime I upload a singl lecture and see the number of minutes recorded increasing

4. I get motivated when a create an interesting image and when I see the landing page of the course

5. I get very motivated when I see that someone review my course and explicitly likes the course

[Blogging Betty Boomer]

Wow, these are great motivational points. I recently uploaded my first course, and although only 1 registrant I have begun to analyze everything from the intro video to the title keywords. Just the process of doing that PLUS working on the next course has helped to push out the negative thoughts and replace with the fact that I AM IN MOTION!

THANKS AGAIN!