Telecommuting for work is on the rise as employers reap the cost benefits of having their employees work from home. Employees also have cost benefits in terms of spending that much less money on the commute and daily spending. However, just because you are working from home does not mean that you are immune from distractions. Try incorporating these tips to help make the home office more efficient:
- Remove all external distractions. This is the fast and hard rule of working at home. Turn off IM unless it’s for work, lock the door, and put up a do not disturb sign if necessary. Constant interruptions make it that much more difficult to focus and get things done.
- Find a type of music that you can tolerate listening to for hours. A streaming radio station with few commercial breaks is best. The music gives your mind something to latch onto and stops stray thoughts from happening. Odd as it may sound, it works.
- Set up your furniture and accessories as comfortably as possible. Not having everything within reach can be a nuisance, thus creating another distraction.
- Get up out of your chair and stretch on a regular basis. Constantly focusing on the work with no break can be irritating, and cause you to lose focus. Loss of focus turns into lost work time.
Last, but not least, quit at a regular time. Resist the urge to go in and work outside of normal hours, unless the job has a deadline. You avoid the risk of burnout by sticking to a schedule and not working until all hours of the night.
