One of the difficult aspects of working from home versus working at a place where your supervisor can be standing over you is to motivate yourself to get your work done! I’m generally a very motivated person but there are so many distractions at home. I have a 16-month-old son, a husband, 2 cats and am expecting my 2nd child any day now. And that darn housework likes to tempt me too!
So how do you stay focused when working from home, where distractions are bountiful?
Here is what I do….first of all I highly recommend having your own office space where you can shut the door and forget about the world outside. I’m very fortunate to have that with our new home. I have made the space very comfortable so when I come to work, I feel like I’m at a “regular” job in my office. Make sure you are comfortable with a good office chair, comfortable keyboard, good lighting, resources readidly available, etc. I have 3 accounts for my job and to keep the account specifics organized for each one, I have a paper sorter where each basket is devoted to that hospital. It is right at my desk where I can quickly look at it.
Then I needed to work on keeping myself focused on the computer. I do allow myself 10 minutes to check email and do personal computer work when I first sit down to work. And I use my kitchen timer to stay on task! I have a simple timer that sticks to my computer monitor and I set it for everything I do. It’s so easy to become so distracted on the computer with emails, browsing, online shopping, etc. When that timer goes off, then I must get to work. Then I set my timer for 1 hour of working. I don’t do anything else for that 1 hour but work! When the hour is up, then I get something to drink, go to the bathroom, whatever and again I set my timer for 10 or 15 minutes. It’s the only way I will stay on task when working.
If during the hour of working I must stop for some reason then I stop the timer so I’m keeping track of my hours of actual work, not time sitting at my computer. That way it is a more accurate measurement of my time spent working.
And I really only work when my son is being watched by someone else or he’s sleeping. I can’t watch him and work at the same time. I work mainly on the weekends when my husband is home and in the evenings. And when it’s time for Mom to go to work, I tell my son “Mommy is going to work now..I will see you later.” Of course he doesn’t quite understand what I’m saying but I want him to understand as he gets older than mommy is working even though she is at home.
::Beep:: Oh there is the timer…I must get back to work….
So what tips do you have to stay on task while working from home?
