Home Office Distractions
| August 8th, 2007
Working from a home office isn’t all fun and games. There’s more to it than having extra flexibility with your time (like being able to sleep in) and not having to dress up for work. Working from home is also full of challenges, distractions and pit stops. However, if you know what the distractions are, you can better deal with them, therefore working with more productivity. Knowledge is power.
Family - Be it a husband that demands your attention, or children running and playing while you are focusing, family can pose a threat to your productivity. Try to have a regular schedule and let your family know when it is, they will be less likely to bother you if they know when it ends. For smaller children, I recommend hiring a babysitter to come in for a few hours a day and entertain the kids while you work. And know when to say “NO”.
Refrigerator - This is my big one, snacking. This is bad for several reasons, one, weight gain, and two, for every minute you spend getting and eating a snack, you don’t work. Try to avoid the fridge while you are working, except for a small break and lunch. You will be healthier and more productive.
Home Phone - Getting a personal phone call while in the middle of something is distracting, depending on the caller it may not be very easy to get off the phone. I run into that problem with my husband sometimes, he will call at the exact wrong moment, say while in the middle of typing a post, and then think I am mad at him because I need to go, so I end up spending time explaining to him why I need to go, and by the time I get off, my thought process is gone. I have recently begun to turn off the ringer while I am working, that may be an option for you as well.
Pets - Be it cats or dogs, if they are loud of pesky (like a cat walking across the keyboard while you are typing) you will need to find a way to keep them out of your office and out of the way. Try closing the door, or putting the dogs outside if your able. You do not want to be in the middle of something and have the cat hit the escape button and loose everything. Or to be on a business call and have a dog barking in the background.
Friends and Neighbors - Some friends and family will not understand what your schedule it, worse yet, they may not consider working from home a ‘real’ job. You will have to take this upon yourself to let them know your schedule, if you have one, and be strong and say NO if they drop by unexpectedly wanting a chat. Working from home in this sense needs to be treated like a outside job; they wouldn’t come up wanting to chat if you were in an office somewhere, you would be working, well, it is the same at home, just a different location.
Television - Having the television on while I am working makes it so hard to focus and get things done. Sometimes when I am working my husband will watch TV, most of it is ok, but when he and his friend are over watching something like the world series, I can kiss getting any work done goodbye! They are ’shouters’ LOL
Nice Weather - When your working at home it is ok to stop and head outside for a walk or just to sit outside with a cup of coffee, that is one of the many benefits of working from home, just remember not to let the time get carried away, working from home is still working.
What are some of your distractions, and how do you deal with them?
This was a great read. It compliments an article posted on our site: “Disadvantages of Working at Home… Yes, Freelancing has its Drawbacks Too!”
We’ve linked it below in case you’re also interested in reading it:
Nice weather got me today, its not normal in england so isn’t normally a distraction
[…] week I wrote about Home Office Distractions, listing the different distractions you may face working from home, along with a few tips on how to […]