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Jun30
My Work at Home Challenge: Focus

The sky is blue, it’s 85 degrees and the swimming pool is beckoning, but I alsopool.JPG have to update several blogs, submit them to various social networking sites, handle correspondence and take care of other small details making up my daily work. I start out with the best of intentions, but hearing the splashing sounds coming from the swimming pool are too much to bear. How do can I possibly stay focused on such as beautiful day?

The weeds in my garden, news and gossip, email, the Internet, my refrigerator and my family are all distractions. Mind you, most of these are good things, but I have a short attention span and find it hard to shut things out when I sit down to work. How do I stay focused?

  • I schedule work times for the times I’m least likely to be distracted by my family or other elements.
  • I move my laptop to a quiet place.
  • I work facing a wall.
  • I give in to temptation and make up the time later in the evening.
  • I look at my calendar with its deadlines neatly marked in.
  • I reward myself. For every hour of work I complete, I get 15 to 30 minutes to surf or swim or garden.
  • I schedule play time just as I schedule work time.

It’s tough to stay focused year round. Staying focused during the warm summer months is the biggest challenge yet. How do you handle it?

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4 Comments/Trackbacks




One way I overcome focus issues (which are pervasive in the summer) is to take the laptop outside while the kids play; at least that way I get my vitamin D & don't feel so cooped up.

I swear this just described me totally!

I've been working at home for years, and yes, sometimes the distractions can get the better of you!

How many times have you had to go out to get some milk, go and see someone, had to chase after printer ink refills, or just go to the bank?

I guess it's all down to time management - sounds dull as dishwater really, doesn't it? But as long as you allocate a given time span to help you achieve your desired goals and stick to it, you needn't feel too guilty.

I believe that studies have found that if you work for longer than about 90 minutes at a time, your mental agility begins to wane. The answer seems to be, work 90 minutes, take a break, then work some more, take a break and so on.

By doing this, if you can achieve more in six hours than most people do in seven, then enjoy your distractions!

Steve Thomas
www.SeeForYourself.tv

I find that you need to have things really down to a routine or the distractions simply take over. When you went into an office, all the cues where there to say "this is time for work." And everything else was far away. Not so when you are working at home.

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