There are many distractions you may be unexpectedly subject to when working from home, that you ordinarily wouldn’t consider from the office.It’s a learning curve for us all, but here’s some techniques we’ve picked up so far on how to manage them.
1.
Some distractions you can control, others you can’t. Anyone with pets may relate when I tell you my cat has been walking all over my ‘work from home desk’ ever since I set it up. Whatever the most important thing is on my desk at any given time, she’ll do everything in her power to be right on top of it. This is a somewhat unwanted distraction I can control however, simply by supplying a basket to occupy her all-fours instead.
2.
A big distraction can be when others under the same roof as you are not working, perhaps they’re on furlough? Ground rules need to be set here. If your temporary office is in the corner of the living room, your housemate needs to know that the TV can’t be on during working hours. Perhaps the TV can move? Or your housemate can consume video on their mobile devices instead? Eradicating the distraction will lead to a quieter, more focused workspace.
3.
But what if you have noisy neighbours!? Depending on how well you get on with them, and therefore your approach to dealing with their noise, this most likely is something out of your control. A great way to mitigate noise distractions is by wearing headphones, or playing background music. If you don’t have a stereo or radio, you can open up YouTube music, Spotify web player or an online radio station to play music right off your browser. Most over-ear headphones these days are noise cancelling, simply putting these on should remove the irritating sound from your noisy neighbours!
4.
It’s very easy to be distracted simply by the fact that you are at home! If you usually work from an office, coming home means you’re not at work and you can relax. Now that you’re working from home, this mindset needs to shift, and a good method to help with this is by scheduling recreational home activities into your day. It might be very tempting to sit on the sofa and turn the TV on because that’s what you normally do at home. However, you need to be disciplined and ensure you follow a work-reward system, allowing yourself recreational activities only at certain pre-arranged times and when your work is done.
We’re all prone to distractions when working from home, but the tips above can hopefully help to alleviate the main distractions and keep our mind clear for working.
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