Whether you write freelance or perform office tasks as a virtual assistant, working from home offers many attractive perks. However, working from home also brings its own set of challenges. If you’ve been having trouble staying focused and on task while you’re at home, then you’re not alone. One of the most common complaints about at-home workers is that they can’t focus long enough or get easily distracted. In order to make working from home a lucrative career option, you’re going to have to concentrate. Here are some useful tips to help you avoid distractions and produce your best work from home.
1. Treat it like a “real” job.
Your friends and family might think you spend all day in your pajamas, but don’t let them tease you into becoming lazy. Treat your at-home job like a job you might have in an office. Wake up at a set time every day, put on regular clothes and get to work. Just as any worker has a to-do list for the day, create a list of objectives that you hope to accomplish. Setting a schedule and sticking to it will help you get in the working frame of mind, and you’ll be less prone to succumb to distractions.
2. Eliminate common distractions.
If you have children, pets or other family members who depend on you, then find a time to work when you’re less in demand. Develop a workspace that meets your needs, and make sure it has a door that can be closed. Most offices discourage personal phone calls, and you should limit your cell phone use to job-related calls. On the flip side of this, if you work better with music or light noise in the background, then by all means keep your stereo on. Just make sure that you don’t spend 20 minutes watching that sitcom instead of working on your freelance project.
3. Use a timing device or app.
At-home workers tend to lose track of time, which leads them to believe they’re working more than they really are. Many great apps and widgets exist for helping at-home workers stay on-task and motivated. Toggl, for example, is a simple timing device that you can install onto your desktop that allows you to keep track of your time in seconds. Other apps can also be downloaded, but you can use the simple stopwatch feature on your smartphone to make sure you’re logging enough time doing actual work.
4. Accept the right assignments.
One of the basic features of human psyche is that if you don’t like something, then you’re not going to work very hard at it. While you can’t get away with this mentality when you’re under someone else’s employ, working from home allows you to get lazy when it comes to assignments. You start to self-sabotage and accept work that you know you won’t complete. Beat your brain at its own malicious game by choosing work that speaks to your interests. You’ll be more motivated to succeed because you actually care about the assignment.
5. Take small breaks.
For some people, plowing through an eight-hour workday is enough motivation to keep working, but at-home workers tend to get antsy when sitting at home, usually in front of a computer screen. It’s important to take breaks every half hour or hour. Don’t overdo it, though. Just take a five to ten minute break to walk around, stretch, get a cup of coffee or listen to some music. Like employees who visit the water cooler to take a break from making copies, you should take short breaks every once in a while to refresh your mind for the tasks at hand.
Staying focused is crucial to your success while working from home. If you’re new to the world of at-home employment, then you’ll need to retrain your brain to adjust to the setting. It takes great discipline to work from home, but once you master how to effectively work on your own terms, you’ll reap the many benefits that come with the job.
Jeremy Oms
Jeremy is an entrepreneur and leading manager of New Blood, Inc. Excited about all things Internet related, Jeremy spends much of his time project managing custom web applications and directing advanced search engine optimization efforts.
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