How to Get Your Work Done at Home
If you’re new to working at home, you may be encountering issues you never even considered before. Distractions are everywhere, whether you live by yourself, with your pets or with your family. You’re just not used to being at home while you’re doing your job.
Instead of sitting at your desk in the office, hammering out code or content, you find yourself at home, either at your home office or at the kitchen table, trying to focus. Meanwhile, all kinds of things are trying to distract you while you’re working from home, such as:
- Your spouse or significant other demanding attention
- Your next meal, which needs to be prepared now
- The laundry that’s piling up in the closet
- The pet whining to be fed or walked or petted
- The snacks in the kitchen that are calling your name
- The social media platforms that are just a click away
- Videos of shows or movies that suddenly sound fascinating
- All the non-work-related reading you have to catch up on
- The food shopping and other errands that are waiting for you
- Feeling guilty about trying to work in your pajamas
- Trying to get in the work mood in your home environment
- The need to keep up with all the latest news
- Wanting to answer the phone or emails
Tips for Minimizing Distractions
The good news is that it is possible to be productive when working at home. The principals of Ray Access, a remote work firm since its founding in 2014, have developed strategies to get stuff done when working from home. Follow these tips to become a work-at-home pro:
- Schedule time when you want to work and stick to it. Whether you put aside eight hours a day or two, block off that time so you can focus just on your work. If others are home with you, let them know you can’t be interrupted during that time except in case of an emergency.
- Wear noise-cancelling earphones or play music loudly, so you’re not distracted by random sounds around the house.
- Give yourself deadlines for specific projects or tasks. Work hard to meet them.
- Make a to-do list with everything you need to accomplish that day. Prioritize the list so you get the most important things done first.
- Keep track of important deadlines and meetings. Consult your schedule regularly, at least once a day, preferably first thing in the morning.
- Get comfortable. To be the most productive you can be, do whatever you need to make your new workplace encourage healthy, focused work habits.
- Unplug. To avoid getting caught up in email and social media, disconnect, unless you need it for your work.
- Focus, focus, focus. Do whatever you need to do to focus on the work you have to do.
- Set mini-deadlines. Give yourself things to do in the next hour, 15 minutes, whenever. These mini-deadlines are motivating.
- Stand and stretch every now and then. Once an hour should be your minimal time of devoted screen time. Plus, it helps your body stay healthy and the breaks can keep you sharper mentally.
Working at home can be difficult if you’re not used it. Fortunately, Ray Access is here to share its experience of working remotely for the past seven years. Take it from us; working at home can be liberating and empowering. You just need to take the right approach.
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