Fighting Distractions and Being Productive
How not to Get Distracted and Stay Focused when Working from Home
Freelancers or small-business owners working from home will come across the problem of being distracted more than once in their career. For most freelancers staying productive every day can be a real battle. This is not good because it can cause people to miss deadlines, to have to work throughout the night or to feel discouraged.
It’s thus essential that every self-employed professional learns how to deal with his or her workspace and time.
Keep the Work Space Clean and Organized
Every freelancer has his own preferences about his workspace. Some like their desk to be extremely organized and don’t want paper lying around while others don’t mind having stacks of files on their desk. A lot of freelancers like to work with the radio on, but there are people who find that way too distracting.
The important thing every freelancer should do is figure out which work environment works best for them and then arrange their work space accordingly. If this means having a clean desk, then clean it up once a week.
Keep Track of Time and Don’t Waste it
One of the pitfalls of being self-employed is that there is no boss to tell the freelancer what to do and when to do it. No one is going to be mad for taking a short coffee break every hour. Freelancers should be very disciplined when it comes to their time. After all, time is very valuable and it’s easy to ‘just take a short break’ and then suddenly realize that hours have passed.
A good exercise is tracking time for one week. Take a look at the results at the end of this week and find out where all this time is lost. Chances are the results will be very surprising. But at least now it's possible to take steps to eliminate unproductive activities.
Every person working from home should allow himself to take a 10-minute break every hour. Step away from the desk and walk around the house, go read a magazine or watch some TV. During the day, turn off the automatic messages that send a notification for a new e-mail, a new Facebook comment or a Twitter message. Read all of these during lunch break. This will lower the amount of distractions when working on a new copywriting assignment, designing a brochure or writing website codes. Remember, social media can help promote business, but it’s also really distracting.
Others Should Also Respect the Time of the Freelancer
If a freelancer himself does not respect his own time, how can he expect others to do this? Determine work hours, let’s say 9 to 5 and stick to them. People working from home should tell friends, relatives and neighbors that even though their office is at home, they are indeed working. No, it’s not possible to babysit during the day, and no, it's not possible to leave the house to go shopping for them. Freelancers should talk to relatives and friends about the office hours and point out that phone calls are only acceptable after the work hours (except when their call is work-related off course).
The Kitchen Timer Method for Freelancers
Freelancers who easily get distracted, should try the kitchen timer method: set the kitchen timer to 30 minutes and work non-stop during that time. When the kitchen timer makes a sound, stop working for 10 minutes and do something fun. Repeat and watch the productivity grow!
Kitchen Timer method
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