Working from home has its perks, however, it is good to also acknowledge the distractions that come with the home-based work. These distractions are much more personal than those at the office, meaning they must be handled with care if you are to succeed in working at home.
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Even before putting in place measures to deal with distractions, it is important to set aside space in your home that will act as your “office”. In most cases, having a dedicated space allows your mind to focus when working and temporarily disconnect you from other activities in the home.
Although there are a number of ways of dealing with distractions when working from home, some have proven to work better than others and are worth trying out to avoid getting stressed out. Most of these solutions will require some discipline and the ability to manage your time well.
Plan Ahead
Draw up a list of common distractions that you face on a daily basis and others that you expect as you continue working from home. In most cases, these distractions take away time that you might have otherwise spent working an earning some extra money.
Occupy Your Family and Children
The leading distraction among home-based workers is children especially if you are a parent because they always seem to need something done or be handed over to them while you are working. The best way to address this is to have the times they usually need in place beforehand such as toys, packed lunch, or even a daytime nanny. Furthermore, you can set up a routine that they can follow thus giving you a chance to be productive when they are asleep or playing with friends.
Set A House Cleaning Schedule
The planning ahead also goes for housework, which must be done on a regular basis if you are to maintain a good working environment. However, with children, cleaning may need to be done more than once but this can be limited to the free time you have. Commit to doing a bit of housework only during breaks so as you have enough time to concentrate on your work.
Manage Your Time On The Phone and Social Media
When it comes to distractions managing your time on the phone and social media can be challenging. Sometimes it's best to turn off any device that receives notifications apart from your computer. Keep in mind if you have small children it is best to have your phone near just in case of an emergency.
MultiTask
Multitasking effectively is another great way of avoiding distractions when working from home. For example, during your break time, you can decide to fold laundry while making follow up calls to clients that you may have already contacted online. However, it is good to limit multitasking to certain tasks if you are to be keep away from distractions and complete the work assigned to you for the day in good time.
Hire A Nanny
When everything else fails, hire a nanny. This is another way of ensuring that you keep away from distractions especially if you have children in your home. The nanny can assist you with the children on a full time or part time depending on your immediate needs and the work at home job that you hold.
Set Realistic Goals
To succeed in your home-based position and minimize distractions you will need to set goals that you much achieve within a set time period. These goals can be short or long term depending on the job.
At the end of the day or week, go through your goals and see if your management of distractions resulted in more productivity or not on your part. If you are getting better in managing the distractions then continue on the same path but if not, you should consider evaluating the current way you do things and make changes. However, it is important that the goals set concerning work from home distractions be realistic if they are to be achieved in the long run.
Final Thoughts on Minimizing Work at Home Distractions
Overall, work from home distractions can be dealt with effectively regardless of the job position. To be successful, you will need commitment along with support from your family and friends.
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This Post Has 2 Comments
I’m having a hard time figuring out a schedule or even how it should look “realistically”. But this was a good article.
Hi! Glad you enjoyed the article 🙂 First thing is figuring out if you want something part-time, full-time (set schedule), or something that’s very flexible with hours. It is very difficult to find a 9-5 job unless it’seems something in the educational or medical field.