How to Focus When You Work From Home
- Jenny Espino
- Apr 21, 2018
- 6 min read
So here I am, sitting here in my home office (AKA: The Couch lol)... and there is SO much not work stuff to do. There are toys everywhere, our rooms are messy, the kitchen needs to be mopped... chores, chores, chores EVERYWHERE! I totally see it there and cringe every time I look at it, BUT, I know I have work to do, so I can make my dreams happen... and a messy house can wait until after hours. It can be completely overwhelming, believe me, the thoughts of "This house is such a mess, I need to clean it, that trashcan is overflowing... I don't want my husband to have to come home to a dirty house," or even "Maybe I'll just sit and binge on Netflix today..." and of course "I have so many errands to run!" cross my mind DAILY. If you work from home and have some of these same thoughts, below are the ways I continue to focus on my work instead!
1. Your Home Office is Your Real Office
When you work from home, you need to think about your office being your OFFICE - not your home - as if you were going to an actual workplace that was outside your own walls. Wake up, drink some coffee, get dressed and ready - as if you weren't going to be working from home (because Lord knows, when I get ready and don't stay in workout clothes or jammies all day, I get WAY more accomplished) and also, SET OFFICE HOURS. For myself, I treat the commute to drop off my boys at school as my "commute to work". I get home, have a light breakfast, take my baby for a morning walk, then I set up my office for the day in my defined work space and get started. I do have my littlest one hanging out with me, and yes, sometimes it's hard to get work done when he's craving my attention, but when he needs it; he has it. I just make sure to work even harder when he's napping. Basically, when you have the mindset of your home office being your "out of home office," you're more likely to be productive all day long!
2. Distractions Are the Enemy
We all know that the house is FULL of distractions that are removed from an actual workplace. Everything from chores, to entertainment, to kids, etc., can easily grab your attention when you're at home. My advice is to physically write a to-do list and keep it next to you all day long! That way you can see what tasks are at hand for each day and you can tackle them one-by-one. For me, it helps minimize the following daily home distractions:
Kids:
My baby is with me most days, and while I know it's not possible for a lot of people, I have help 2 days a week from my amazing mom and fabulous mother-in-law so that I can completely focus on my work. If you're able to do something similar - even if it's only for a couple hours for a couple days so you can kind of do a "power hour," then GREAT! If not, it's a great idea to set a schedule and have activities planned out that you can take a break from work and spend time with your little ones - or educational activities that occupy them while you get work done. Pinterest has SO many ideas to help little minds learn and grow.
Social Media:
I know... it stings... but TURN OFF THE NOTIFICATIONS ON YOUR PHONE!!!! Do not let yourself be distracted by the bloops and bleeps of incoming comments and questions from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter etc.! Facebook's timeline is filled with funny, distracting videos and opinionated posts that can suck you in and make you waste the majority of your day without you even knowing. Answering people's questions can also be time consuming - and before you know it, you're in a full-on, unscheduled, online consultation with a potential client. Set a time in the morning before starting on your work to answer all new emails and social media inquiries. Believe me, it can be difficult to wait - but it's SO rewarding in the long run!
Emails:
Again, emails can be very distracting because they come in at all times of the day. You want to be loyal to your clients, and also show them the common courtesy of being available as they need, however, it's just not realistic when you're a one-man-show. Again, similar to the social media distraction, you need to set a certain time out of your day to answer emails. For me, I only try to answer inquiries in the mornings. However, it might work better for you to check in the morning, before lunch, and at the end of the day. Don't spend too much time on email responses. You don't want this to be the majority of your day.
Chores:
It's never fun to wake up and have to work in an office space that has been destroyed by your children the night before. And believe me, with 3 little boys in our house... the messes are never ending! What I try to do is focus on the chores after my office closes up shop. I start dinner right after I stop working, my loving husband always follows that up with dishes, and after our boys go to bed, we tidy up so that the house is decent for my next work day. Having a clean space makes it SO MUCH EASIER to not be distracted by the "Ugh... I need to do 'this'" thoughts.
Food:
Food has always been a distraction for me - especially when I'm working at home. It's so easy to just walk into the kitchen and grab something out of the fridge and snack on it - or stand there thinking about what I could eat. I've found that having small prepared snacks ready to go - as well as easy ready made salad lunches - help me not constantly get up and snack all day. Also, having a big glass of cold water next to me helps as well.
TV:
Usually, I don't watch a lot of TV on cable. HGTV is the death of me, but I've gotten better about my addiction. However, it's SO easy to confuse my office time as "me time," and binge watch my fave shows on Netflix... oops! I've definitely found that having a defined work space that is far from any TV REALLY benefits me. I put on my fave relaxing music via Pandora and that helps me have the background noise that I need to get my work done and get my creative juices flowing. Believe me, if you are close to a remote and TV, it's just too easy to get sucked in to watching 6 straight hours of Jane the Virgin.
3. Change Your Space
One of my favorite things to do when I don't have the baby is to take my work somewhere else. I love going to our local coffee shop - I don't know what it is about the change of scenery, but man, I sure do get A LOT MORE done! It eliminates all of those distractions of home, no kid messes, no dirty dishes, no laundry piles to fold, no TV, just me, a cup of coffee, my computer and a dozen other people getting their work done as well. It's extremely motivating to see other people working and that vibe and energy helps too! Plus, I think I feel empowered and confident - like, "Yeah, I run my own business and I'm getting that hustle IN right now!!" haha
4. You Need a Break!
Don't forget that when you work at a normal job, you'd get a short morning and afternoon break and a longer lunch break. Make sure that you try to do the same at home! It can be pretty difficult because when you've got the flow - it's hard to stop it. But believe me, if you do take those breaks, you'll be more relaxed and more productive in the long run. I've decided that my morning break needs to happen before my work day begins with a nice walk. I feel that starting the day with some fresh air comforts me and gets me in a good mood which sets me up for success. I then take other short breaks in between tasks to spend time with my baby. Then, I take a lunch break which includes time to pick up the boys from school. Waiting for them allows me to check on emails, scroll my Facebook and socialize with other school parents. My later afternoon break lets me put the baby down and just hang out with the big boys and help them with their homework and send them outside to play.
I hope that these tips will benefit you as much as they have helped me! It also really helps that my family has been super supportive in my little business endeavor. Even the kids know what I do and how I do it and that I do it all from home. It takes SO much self-discipline and I'm not always very good at it, but when I apply these tips, it helps SO much! Do you work from home? Comment below and let me know what you do!
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