Increasing Home Office Concentration

One thing that a home office has that you wouldn’t have at a traditional office? More distractions. Personal life and work life can collide when the office is at home. Kids walk in while you’re on a business call, or friends just stop on over not seeming to realize that just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you’re available. So here are some of my ideas to help increase your concentration while you’re working in your home office.

• Hold business hours. Tell friends you’re working those hours and you’re not available to ‘hang out’ during that time. Make sure your family realizes this as well. If your office door is closed, that’s a no enter zone. Works the other way as well. Off hours do not let work bother you. Think about time with friends and family instead. Work will wait until you’re back on your personal clock.
• Block out the distractions. In this case I am thinking outside noise. Block out the yelling, banging and other noises that might be made outside your office door. This is not a time for you to worry. Unless it’s an utter emergency, don’t let it get to you. Blocking out distractions can be as simple as finding another white noise to fill in. Music, or TV in the background can work. Be careful to not pick something that will distract you in another way. If the TV playing in the background is going to make you want to stop and watch it, maybe you could find some other light background noise instead. Watching TV instead of working is no good either.
• Don’t leave your work zone unless it’s absolutely necessary. Unless you need to use the bathroom or it’s lunch time, don’t walk through that office door. Set a time that you will stick by for getting back to work after your lunch or small break is over. This will put you back into work mode faster so you can be in the work zone for your next task.
• Keep a planner and keep those things you need to do organized. By organizing those things you need to do for work, you can check them off as you get them finished. Leave enough write-in room for those extras that will pop up during the day or days before it approaches. Organization improves concentration because you won’t be spending so much time trying to figure out what comes next.
• Don’t be afraid to be flexible. The best part of working from home is that you can make an emergency run to the store or to pick up the kids during the day once school is over. That’s why many people work from home, so they can fit life in with the work. No more surprise sick days to ruin a good day of work, either. Make a plan on those days you need to do something else during your work hours. Decide how you will make up for it in advance. So when you do sit down to work again, you will be ready to jump right in.

The better you can concentrate on the work you’re doing, the easier it is to get all the work you need to do - done.