avoid distractions when working from home

Working from home is on the rise, according to the 2017 US Census.  From increased work-life flexibility and employee productivity to decreased real estate costs and overhead, remote work (or "telecommuting") offers benefits for both employee and employer. 

Whether you're a grad student like me, self-employed working out of a home office, or telecommuting part-time, you've encountered the benefits and the challenges of working home. Challenges like distractions. 

In this post we'll talk about several distractions you may be all too familiar with, and how to help nip them in the bud. 

Find 2020 statistics on remote working

15 Trends for Remote Working in 2021

With a third of the US workforce now working from home, many have moved to a new city or state - "Zoom Towns". Travel Experts from Million Mile Secrets put together an article on the most popular destinations for remote workers.

If you can work from anywhere, why not live where you vacation? Coverage put together an article to help you decide if you can make the move to your dream city including stats on living costs and your basic necessities, like a strong WiFi signal.

An article from AllConnect highlights our desire to reconnect with nature in this increasingly virtual need, and so they put together a list of the 10 states that offer the best combo of outdoors and internet access.

Are you an employer looking for tips on how to prep your team to work from home? Check out this post on 5 Ways to Prepare Your Employees to Work Remotely

smartphones and social media

With the world at our fingertips, courtesy of smartphones and social media, procrastination continues to be a thief of time.

We spend hours browsing the Internet and scrolling through social media feeds. We text a friend instead of answering our emails. Or answer emails instead of doing our work! 

Strategies to battle this type of procrastination include putting your phone somewhere else in your home - you can hear it if it rings, but won't have the visual distraction tempting you to check in.

If you don't need the Internet for your current task, turn your Wifi off.

​You'll be surprised when you mindlessly click on your browser and are greeted with a "no internet connection" message. 

These procrastination and distraction habits become so familiar to us it's like we do them on auto-pilot, like driving a similar route, or daydreaming during a meeting.

​You can also manage your Do Not Disturb options - if certain people call or text, you'll get a notification, otherwise it can wait for your next break. ​

Do you work remotely or freelance? Do you have a secure Internet connection? 

Most home networks are not secure - which could cost you freelance gigs that require that extra level of security. You can learn about how to secure your Internet connection in this extensive guide.

lack of routine

There is something to be said for the structure of a 9 to 5 work day - you often go to bed at a similar time each night, wake up and have a morning routine, and get to work. 

When you work from home, the lack of that routine can leave you feeling aimless starting your day.

Some remote work veterans share their advice on maximizing your productivity at home, and one piece of advice always seems to repeat itself: create a separate work space at home.

Additional routine that goes with that - getting ready in the morning and getting dressed, taking your cup of coffee to your work space, and sitting down with intention can make a big difference.

While you may picture the bliss of working from the couch, kids playing in the background, laundry waiting to be folded next to you compared to a stressful commute and noisy co-workers, working from home can be much different. ​

Let's go back to the "going to bed" and "waking up" part of the routine. We often divide our social life into "weeknights" and "weekends".

Why?

Because of our responsibilities the next day.

The idea of going into the office after a night out with friends deters many of us from going beyond happy hour. 

If having a glass of wine or a beer is one of your regular ways to unwind, when working from home you may find that with the bottle opener within reach and no one the wiser, a drink or two will help ease the stress. 

Learn how alcohol affects your sleep in this article from SlumberYard

Situations like this often accumulate, and while in your mind you still have 1 glass of wine with dinner each night, if you really think it through and tally it up, you may be drinking a lot more than you think.

Picking up new habits like drinking more, and/or more frequently, can have effects on your health, through the often cited alcohol-related diseases, but also through slow and steady weight gain.

You've likely heard of the recent studies that cite "high risk drinking" as 4+ drinks in one day or 8+ drinks per week (women) and 5+ drinks in one day or 15+ drinks per week (men), or as binge drinking (4+ drinks over 2 hours for women, 5+ drinks over 2 hours for men).

While you may see the term "high risk drinking" and think - that doesn't apply to me, take a more careful look at the definition.

One glass of wine, 1 cocktail, or 1 beer each night of the week is 7 drinks per week.

An extra drink or two on weekend evenings and you've met the "high risk" category.

Even if you stay dry during the week, you can't save them up for the weekend - binge drinking isn't something only college kids do.

Having 4 glasses of wine over a 2 hour dinner is considered binge drinking. 

I mentioned the "zoning out" when we check social media, or drive a familiar route, or check our phone for the time (and don't register what it is). When we do very familiar things, our brain filters out excess information because we know what's happening. Our brain puts the outside world on hold for a minute while it catches up on some file sorting. We don't need to be as sharp, listening for threats or looking for predators, so our brain goes into a hypnotic state. 

Luckily you can take advantage of that brain state to do just the opposite - to focus in on your behaviors, your emotions, and your actions and use those insights to address issues like an increase in drinking.

It may sound ridiculous, but Hypnotherapy for Alcohol isn't any crazier than the idea of your drinking habits meeting a high risk definition.

​You can read more about hypnosis for treating physical and psychological problems, like smoking and alcoholism, here. 
​

self-management

Just like creating a separate work space and maintaining a regular routine when working from home can help battle the lack of structure, other self-management strategies can keep you from falling behind on your deadlines. 

Working in your own environment affords you the opportunity to assess how you work best. For the most part, you're not subject to the constraints of the office environment. You may have a conference call or video meeting, but often you can block off time in your schedule for key tasks. 

I work best in the morning, and try to block off time then for more challenging tasks that need maximum brain power. When I'm leveling off in the afternoon - that's when I answer emails or do other administrative tasks.

If you're looking to make your work-from-home space work for you, check out this article from Cable Compare on the 12 best WFH accessories and gadgets.

What distractions have you encountered when working from home? ​