Adam Riemer
I’ve been working from home for more than five years, and sometimes it becomes almost impossible to focus and get work done. Because of that, I had to come up with some creative ways to be able to motivate myself, stay focused and make sure that my work from home productivity stayed on task. Here are five of the ways I stay focused and ensure that my clients are happy and that my websites stay on track.
1. Wear dress clothing.
One thing that everyone who wants to work at home dreams about is getting to be like a kid and work in his pajamas all day. Unfortunately, pajamas mean comfort and can distract you instead of help you focus. On days where I cannot concentrate and would rather watch TV or dose off, I get dressed like I am going to an office. By putting on a button- down shirt and slacks, or even a polo shirt and khaki pants, I am able to focus and accomplish more than I normally do when I work in my pajamas. When I was a kid, pajamas were great for things like coloring. As an adult, kids’ pajamas and coloring won’t cut it — so I get dressed up and am able to get more done.
2. Fake a commute to work.
One thing that you eventually miss is leaving the house during the day. When your home also becomes work, you sometimes forget to leave. The way that I fix this is by faking a commute to work a few days a week. Instead of walking to an office, I walk to a grocery store, like Whole Foods, where I pick up breakfast and also stop at the cleaners, or other errands I need to do. This helps me to get out of the house and focus more. When you work from home, you have no reason to leave, which makes your days blend together. Making your fake commute actually helps to break it up and get you to concentrate.
3. Set up play dates.
work from home productivityIf you are used to working in an office, you’ll find yourself craving human contact after you’ve started to work from home. One thing that I did was set up work dates once or twice a week with other local people who work for themselves. We meet at a coffee shop or all go to one person’s house and work from the same place. Not only do we get to have someone to talk to and interact with, but we also get to bounce ideas off people and get feedback, which helps better all of our work.
4. Find a way to break up your day.
After years of sitting in front of a computer and forgetting to leave my apartment during the day, I gained a lot of weight. I also started craving daylight because my days blurred together. To help fix this and to get my endorphins going so I could focus better, I found classes like AntiGravity Yoga that keep me entertained, get me to work out, and help me get more work done because I come back focused and relaxed. (This is actually a picture from my second time ever taking the class.)
5. Create mindless background noise.
Hearing noises outside or in the hallway becomes one of the biggest distractions. To help block those noises, I let the TV project mindless noise and colors on stations like Cartoon Network or the news. If you leave something on that you would watch, like the Food Network, that can become a bigger distraction, so find something that will act as background noise but not distract you.
Working from home is something lots of people love. The problem is learning how to keep yourself focused. You’ll begin to miss day-to-day interactions with people at your office, and getting to work in your pajamas could actually make you less productive. By learning what helps keep you focused when you’re at home, and making sure you can keep focused by leaving your house for a break or setting up play dates, working from home becomes a lot easier and you can become a lot more productive. Working from home is great, but you have to learn how to stay focused and also get your work done.
Visit Adam’s marketing blog for more tips and advice on marketing, organization and being an entrepreneur.
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