How to avoid distractions when working from home

By March 2, 2018For Talent

So you’ve found yourself working at home for a couple of days. Being productive in the comfort of your own house? What could possibly go wrong?

Well it turns out a lot of things…

You wake up early, prepared for a super productive day. By 9:30am you’re on your laptop, working better and faster than ever before!

‘Why doesn’t everyone just work remotely?’ you ask yourself, smugly sipping a mug of coffee. There’s music playing in the background and your cat napping on your lap. Life is good.

You decide to open Netflix in another tab, five minutes of an episode couldn’t possibly hurt?

Next thing you know, it’s 4pm and you’ve chatted on the phone, had a long lunch, watched a whole series, chosen a new profile picture and walked your dog.

Don’t let this happen again! Here at Jobbio we’ve got the tips you need to stay focused while working at home.

 

Stick to regular meal times

Take your lunch break at one usually? Wait until then to start preparing your meal. Don’t waste time walking back and forth to the fridge, hoping more food will spontaneously appear!

 

 

Turn off your phone

It sounds pretty obvious, but without your boss watching over you, you’re far more likely to reply right away to the hilarious message in the group chat, and find yourself still scrolling an hour later! If you’ve got the willpower, just switch off.

 

 

 

Stock up the fridge the day before

Trips to the supermarket can take much longer than planned. Go the night before so all your remote working supplies are ready to go. That includes food, teabags, and maybe even cigarettes. Although smoking isn’t something we encourage!

 

 

 

Tell your housemates that you’re working

Have housemates or family that are home during the day? Make sure they know you’re working, despite being in the house. Therefore they’ll hopefully leave you alone and won’t try call in for a chat.

 

 

 

Get dressed

You might be tempted to sit in pyjamas or a dressing gown for an entire day at home, but without a doubt you’ll begin to feel your productivity slipping. Not only will your work suffer, but you’re more likely to experience cabin fever if you haven’t gotten out of bed and taken proper care of yourself.

 

 

 

Keep in touch with your team

Need some motivation? Keep in touch with your teammates over email, or messenger apps like Slack if you use it. Small interactions with them will help you stay focused and happy to continue working.

 

 

 

Log out of social media accounts

Sometimes it’s just too easy to hop on to Facebook or Twitter. When you’re logged in, all it takes is to type one letter into your search bar and hit enter. Logging out will give you those few extra seconds to think about whether or not you need these distractions and let’s face it you probably don’t.

 

 

 

Work in a clean room

If your work environment is disorderly, your thoughts will be too! Before you start work in the morning, spend 10 minutes cleaning up the area. This will help you feel relaxed and concentrated on the task at hand.

 

 

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Author Jack Maguire

Jack Maguire is a recent English Studies graduate, content writer for the Jobbio blog, freelance journalist and podcast creator.

More posts by Jack Maguire

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