How am I Supposed to motivate myself?

Change job?

Not an instant fix and I don't know what you do but there are lots of opportunities for lots in lots of sectors/roles in London.

If you like your current job (or it pays too well) then maybe there's scope to negotiate some changes?

I don't think anyone mentioned Zwift. Never actually used it myself but it seems to work for some.

If you're in central London, there's also the Regent's Park circuit, which would get boring after a while but beating your own/others' times would make it a bit more interesting. See also Richmond Park, Swain's Lane, Mott Street, Broleur's bergs, etc.

Might be worth mentioning what part of town you're at for home and work - there's bound to be others on here who know the patch and might have suggestions.

With Hawkins here, habit over motivation.

I have a (free) sit up ap, there's no way I'd do the exercises without the habit and it basically nagging me.

My commute, since being extended, has even had a detrimental affect on my weekend ride (as the legs are more tired and I'm fearing boredom). There's a huge difference between doing something because you want to versus have to.

If there's an option to mix it up and drive or train in a couple of days then get back and put the trainer in the garden or shut the cats out, do 20 minutes at full beans. Will possibly do more for your motivation than another commute. 

Gym's good.  Spin classes particularly, convert very well to cycling fitness.

I can imagine cats could be a liability (to themselves) around a turbo!

- Do you have space for a turbo?  I've found it helpful on the basis that it is not weather dependent (and indeed if its better than expected, then go out for a ride) and less time dependent.  You can do a great session in 45m-1hr, there is not so much faff with gear.  The caveat to this is to not mindlessly spin away, but rather have a specific session in mind.

I like TrainerRoad for this as it offers good structured programs.  Not only does this provide routine, but the steady increase in effort in each block gives demonstrable improvements which is motivating in itself.  There are of course other platforms available.

- Have you ever done a cycling holiday?  I've done a couple of trips to the Alps... not only does a week in the mountains provide a fitness goal that you have to work toward, but the experience was absolutely brilliant and uplifting.

It sounds like your work is flexible, so could you change your hours?

I'm a believer in habit over motivation, so if you can just fit cycling into your daily routine, you won't be thinking about it - you'll just be cycling as a matter of course.

So, change your hours to better fit with your wife's and then make a point of always commuting, say every Tuesday/Thursday and go from there. I'm not sure there's a good solution to avoiding other commuters apart from changing your route/home/work, so maybe you should see it as a challenge - accelerate as quick as possible where feasible and slow down for any obstacles.

I am restricted to working from home only two days per month (because piss-takers) and I do view it as a privilege.  However, in a previous job, I worked for a start-up that didn't have an office, and spent most days working from home.  I ended up hating it and was about to rent a desk in a shared office space, when I found another job.

So, given that your office sounds great, you enjoy cycle commuting outside rush hour, your company is very flexible on working hours and you need a routine, how about this?

• Go into the office at your usual (early!) time.
• Leave at lunchtime and ride home.  When the weather's crap, use the direct route.  If it's sunny, extend your ride.
• When you get home, have lunch.
• Have an afternoon nap*
• Late afternoon, log on and tidy up whatever loose ends are left at work.

* Doing all your sleeping in one big chunk during the night is a relatively recent trend. http://slumberwise.com/science/your-ancestors-didnt-sleep-like-you/

I'll echo others here but I'd say gor for a jog instead. Doesn't have to be far, it isn't hard to throw jogging kit on, ticks the fitness box and a 20 minute effort round the block will work wonders.

If you're struggling with the winter too, a SAD lamp can help - I occasionally stick it on first thing when I'm working from home. Seems to jolt me awake more.

Do something else.

Cycling is not the only fruit. Do you have access to a local gym? Because I am a soft southerner I find it far easier to be motivated and fit in a gym schedule where it is dry and warm.

Keeping up your fitness over the winter is a great motivator to be back out and on your bike when spring rolls around, the clocks go forward again and riding to work and back in daylight is far less stressful.

I think srchar nails it.

If you can't motivate yourself to get up (for very good reasons it appears to me) then you have to go back to the drawing board. 

With flexible hours and a track record of getting the job done, I'd definitely be looking to build rides in to your day. 

Could you get up, and get to your home office for say 8.00am, then take a 2-3 hour lunch break before working on to say 5.30 - 6.00pm? 

During that lunch break, you could go for a lovely ride, clear your head, etc. etc. It will lift your mood, improve your fitness, leave you time and freshness to be with you missus of an evening. 

There seems to be a few things going on here.

1) You're tired.  You've identified that you don't really get enough sleep.  Annoyances, like seeing poor riding, are magnified, as are their impact on your mood.

2) You're not getting out of the house enough.  When I work from home, I always make a point of going to a local cafe for lunch, or at least a coffee.  It gets you out in the fresh air, in the daylight, speaking to other people, and gives you a proper break.  Spending all your time indoors is not good for your mood.

3) It doesn't sound like you really enjoy the type of cycling you're doing.  If you don't enjoy cycle commuting, don't worry that you're not doing enough of it.  If your boss doesn't care about you being present at your computer, get out for a ride during the day.  Delete (or de-activate) your FB account and spend the time on your bike instead.  Think to yourself, "I'm getting paid to go for a ride!".

Maybe a little competition would help?  My partner has a FitBit and is always doing some sort of challenge with a bunch of her mates - who can walk 500km in the least time, who can get the most steps in a week etc.  Have you got any mates on Strava who would be up for something like that?

Motivation in the winter can be tough going, I try and look at riding my bike in this way...if I can get on my bike once a week, I'm just about ticking over.. twice a week I'll not loose fitness, if I can get on my bike three times or more, I'm getting fitter.

Personally I need a 'regular schedule' to stick to, or lack of motivation gets in the way and I'm buggered, so through winter I run a roller class on a Wednesday evening for my local club, the main reason being, that if I didn't have that commitment I probably wouldn't get on my bike. I ensure that I ride on a Sunday morning with the club, so there's my twice a week tied up. If I can get out on a Thursday night or manage to cock a leg over the turbo on Friday night I will do that also. I found that last winter road.cc Zwift races the ran, which I think were on a set day for a number of weeks was also a motivation, to actually be somewhere at a certain time with an expectation. 

You've got some pretty odd hours to work around so you might find it difficult to find local riders to ride with weekly, but why not commit yourself a spin class twice a week, that way any actual riding you can get in, on top of that is a bonus. You only need about an hour for each session.

I do find turbo training generally to be really unmotivating, it's more fun on rollers, you can't switch off as you can on a turbo.