Category: Working From Home

5 Tips for Getting Work Done with Distractions

3/8/2022

Now that a lot of us find ourselves working from home, we can sometimes find it hard to focus on our duties. We’ve come up with a few ideas to help you become distraction free, and get some work done.

Create a dedicated home office space. If you don’t have room in your home for your own dedicated room, that’s fine. Find a corner or a lesser used room and make a little office nook for yourself. Clear it free of anything that doesn’t have to do with work, so you don’t distract yourself by looking at non-work related items. And make sure the space can be quiet while you work, or if you like music to help you through your day, then add a little mini speaker to your work space. And it’s preferable to have a door, so you can shut out any other distractions from the house.
Manage your time to suit your productivity. For example, if you are more of a morning person, then frontload your day with your must-accomplish tasks, and move your meetings or phone calls to the afternoon. Create your schedule that is best suited to your personality, and you’ll find you become less distracted.
The easiest on this list is to block out your distractions. To keep focused, block out anything that would distract you. Constantly checking your email? Find yourself slipping to look at social network sites? Or looking at your text messages? The easiest way to get rid of those distractions is to remove them from your view. Close those applications on your computer and silence your phone while you’re in the middle of a task that needs accomplished. If you remove distractions from your reach, then you can focus on getting things done.
Take a break. Make sure you take time out of your day to relax, have a cup of coffee or tea, and think about whatever could be a distraction. Whether it’s laundry that needs done, scheduling a doctor’s appointment, or taking out the trash. Take that break time to accomplish small things or just stare off into space if you’d like. Whatever it is, let your brain have time to process all your additional thoughts that may distract you throughout the day. Think of it as a scheduled distraction time, then you won’t have things popping into your head all day long.
Use one form of communication for your work team. Choose an appropriate messaging service that works for your team to use as your main form of communication. Instead of being distracted by constantly checking email or answering your phone, you can easily have a messenger chat box to utilize when you need to communicate. And remember the thing about blocking distractions? Use this tool, to let everyone know you are unreachable for a certain amount of time while you’re focusing on a certain project or task, and you’ll check messages when you are finished. Avoid messaging others if the matter isn’t urgent, reserve that for emails. People tend to respond to messages immediately, so if it’s not urgent, don’t distract them with a message.

By utilizing some of these ideas, you will find yourself being more productive throughout your day. And the more focused, and therefore quicker to finish your tasks, then you can check out of your day earlier and enjoy a stress-free evening. And who doesn’t love that?

Does The Couch Count As An Office Chair?

3/23/2020

Working from home isn’t as glamorous as it’s often talked up to be. In the end it’s still work and you have a job to do. The world is experiencing a new standard and many of us are being asked to perform our duties from the confines of our personal spaces. Suddenly bringing together two worlds that typically have a healthy boundary requires some preparation and forethought. All changes present their own challenges to face and working from home is no different. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean you have to go in blind. If you’re new to the realm of a remote office, we’ve compiled a few tips for you that go farther than an ever boiling pot of tea.
Expect to be distracted. This is a tough transition, accept it upfront and be more successful in the long run. No matter how hard you try, you’re in a space surrounded by your favorite things… and all of your not-so-favorite things, like the laundry still waiting to be done. The most important part of your new home office is that during your work hours, you belong to your work. If you let yourself wander too far, you’ll end up knee deep in a box of donations you’ve suddenly found use for. Be mindful, and accept that things will pop up, your job is to put them away for later.
Keep your routine as best as you can. A perk of remote work is that you can prioritize as selfishly as you want - there’s no pesky coworkers around to observe your second snack break this morning. This perk can also be the biggest downfall, so try and minimize the amount of romanticized procrastinating you do. If you’re sticking to your routine, you’re making sure you’re keeping your work and home life balanced.
Over communicate with your employer, and if you’re the boss be concise with your needs. Cut to the chase as quickly as you can about your software needs, your concerns, and your schedule. A struggle of being out of the office is that you’re not in front of the people you typically wander down the hall and pester. When you have questions you need to work a little harder to get your answer, but it’s important you get your questions answered.
Streamline your space, and your agenda. Declutter your office space, if possible. If this is an abrupt move to being a remote employee, you’re going to want to find the best place in your home to spend your allotted time in front of your laptop or desktop computer. Take a thorough look at its surroundings, and remove anything that’s going to hinder your production. Be upfront about things that aren’t a priority right now, and focus on what is.
Most of all, it’s important to stay positive. Take a break when you need it, open a window and stretch. We are all still here, even if you’re stuck inside your new home office. It’s time to make the best of what we have, and do our best from where we are. Find the bright sides to working from home, and hold them close. Nobody is worried about your unkempt hair and the commute is pretty great. There are worse things in life.

5 Tips for Getting Work Done with Distractions

Does The Couch Count As An Office Chair?

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