It doesn’t matter if you have been working from home for the last couple of years or if you are a work-from-home novice. Everyone will sooner or later have to deal with at least one of these. Let’s take a look at the culprits and traps of working from home. How to stay focused while working from home:
Distractions
Partners, kids, pets, or parents. We love them. But boy, can they be distracting to be around. Especially if you need to catch up on some late work.
How does one stay focused and undisturbed while working at home?
All you need is everyone else to understand the nature of remote work. They will stop disturbing you immediately. Also – equip your own quiet room, which you can use as an office.
Easy, right? If only it were that simple!
Now, on a more serious note. Have a real conversation with whomever you live with. Make it clear that if you sit at your desk with headphones on, you are not available. For anyone. Unless someone is on fire, ignore everything. Also, noise-canceling headphones are a solid investment in this situation.
Not only mental health
Hot take: The commute isn’t so bad.
I would mix walk with the subway, which together would quickly complete my 10,000 steps per day goal. On the train – I would play chess, listen to music, or read a book. It was a natural part of my day, which I enjoyed.
There would be a comfy chair, a big table, and a massive screen in the office. None of that I would have to pay for, by the way.
While making coffee, we would talk about work, chit chat about the news, kids, pets, whatever. Socialize a bit. And then do some more work, followed by lunch.
I would take care of some errands on the way to work. Do a little grocery shopping on the way back.
With remote work, this is mostly gone. You can try all you want with your casual Zoom lunches, but it’s lame and doesn’t work.
Use any chance to get out. Activities will help you both physically and mentally.
Accountability
…is more difficult while working remotely, isn’t it?
I mean, there is a vast difference between telling a coworker face to face you couldn’t finish that {insert_important_task} because of {some_reason} and texting the same thing on Slack with a sad emoji.
You would probably want to avoid the first scenario. But the second one? Honestly, who cares.
As mentioned before, it is very easy to get distracted while working from home. To increase your attention span, try Pomodoro app, Forest app, or maybe meditation. There is also an online radio dedicated to deep work – deepwork.fm.
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