Personally, I’ve found that one of the hardest parts of working from home is focusing while you’re on the clock. It’s just too easy to get distracted by your dog making a cute face, the tv that’s on in the corner, your roommate cooking some delicious food in the kitchen, or your phone that is temptingly within reach.
Without physical offices, it’s up to us, the remote workforce, to reduce distractions and create environments in our homes where we can actually be productive and do the jobs we are paid for. In this guide, we’ll cover all the most effective tips and tricks for staying focused when working from home so you can enjoy your home and be productive at the same time!
Quick-Glance Summary
- Create a space specifically for work in your home
- Start every day with a prioritized to-do list
- Add a “commute” to your mornings by taking a walk
- Use the Pomodoro technique and take breaks
- Only use your phone during your breaks
- Create a quiet work environment with headphones or background music
- Customize your notifications to avoid alert fatigue
- Find an online coworking platform to work alongside other people
Separate Your Work Space and Living Space
One of the main reasons why focusing on work at home is difficult is because you’re in your home and not in an office. Your brain and body associate your home with rest and relaxation, which isn’t super helpful when you’re trying to lock in and focus on organizing your latest project. The easiest way to fix this is to create a comfortable home office or a space in your home that is reserved for work and work alone. With this home office or working space, your brain will be able to recognize that designated space as a working area and the rest of your home as a relaxing area.
Prioritize Tasks with a To-Do List
If you start your day trying to remember all your tasks, doing them in a random order, and hoping you don’t forget any, you’re on the fast track to feeling overwhelmed and getting distracted (unless you are able to productively work this way, in which case, that’s awesome and you’re a superhuman!). Instead of diving right into your tasks when you clock into work, take a minute to write a quick to-do list (I create mine on my laptop with the sticky notes app) for the day. This list will help you focus entirely on your current task instead of getting distracted by thinking about all the other things you have to do today.
Add a “Commute” to Work by Taking a Morning Walk
Many remote professionals struggle to switch from their “home” brain to their “work” brain. This tip is one of the greatest cheat codes to help your brain distinguish the two: taking a quick walk every morning and treating that walk like a commute. Genius, right? A commute allows people to wake up, focus, and prepare themselves for the workday. As remote workers, we don’t actually have a commute, but that doesn’t mean we can’t recreate it in our own way!
Use the Pomodoro Technique and Take Your Breaks
The Pomodoro technique is very popular among students and remote professionals for one main reason: it works. The Pomodoro technique is a time management method that aims to help the user increase productivity. All you have to do is break down each work session into 25-minute intervals (setting a timer helps so you don’t have to mentally keep track), then taking a short 5 to 10 minute break at the end of the interval before continuing with another 25-minute session.
If you struggle to manage your breaks or are easily distracted, give the Pomodoro technique a try! Keep in mind that you can alter the times to fit your needs since every person is different. For example, I am able to focus and be productive with flexible 20-minute sessions rather than 25-minute sessions, and my breaks are normally 10 minutes, not 5.
Only Use Your Phone on Your Breaks
Ah yes, time to discuss the most tempting distraction of all time: your phone. Don’t worry, my phone is one of my largest distractions as well, so I’m in the same boat. It’s just too easy to hop onto your socials or text back your bestie during a break, which isn’t an issue at all. The phone only becomes an issue if it cuts into your work time or is distracting you from the tasks you’re working on. There are a couple ways to help prevent this from happening, such as:
- Placing the phone in another room
- Enable Focus Mode (available for both iOS and Android)
- Turn off all non-essential notifications (socials, texts, news, entertainment, etc.)
- Use productivity apps to set boundaries for notifications and other distractions
Create a Peaceful Environment with Noise-Cancelling Headphones or Background Music
While some people don’t mind background noise and are able to focus just fine with it, others are not. I’m a part of the latter group, so I need a quiet or calming environment to fully focus and be productive. If your dog is barking at passing cars every two seconds, your roommate or family member is vacuuming in the room next door, or your neighbor’s kid is watching Blues Clues on full blast in the living room, then noise-cancelling headphones are a necessity. With these headphones, you can turn on your favorite tunes, play some background jazz, or simply turn them off but leave them in your ears to prevent external sounds from dividing your attention.
Avoid Alert Fatigue by Customizing Your Notifications
Because you work from home, you probably have a higher number of alerts than people in the office. While in-office workers are able to converse directly with their teams, remote workers depend on apps and their notifications for communication.
If you’re prone to alert fatigue or keep getting distracted by alerts popping up on your screen, it’s time to customize your notifications on the apps you use. Teams, Slack, Outlook, and many of the popular communication and collaboration tools have customizable notifications so you only receive the notifications that you absolutely need to see.
Work Alongside Other People with an Online Coworking Platform
Have you ever felt like it’s easier to work and focus when other people around you are working and focusing? If you have, then this tip is for you. Thanks to the digital era we live in, you don’t even need to leave your house to work alongside other people. You can work alongside your coworkers over a Zoom call, you can sign up for an online coworking platform, you can turn on a Youtube video of other people working, and more. There are plenty of options; it’s all about finding the one that works for you!
Closing Remarks
While working remotely comes with its own set of challenges, it definitely becomes a lot easier once you’re able to cut down distractions and focus when you’re on the clock. Try a few of these tips out the next time you need to focus while working from home and see which ones work for you! If you have any other tips that you’ve come across that you would like to share with myself and our community, feel free to post them in the comment section below; I would love to try them!
FAQs
The main reason why many remote workers can’t focus when working from home is because the boundaries between work and personal life are blurred. Homes can also be full of distractions, and if workers aren’t used to handling such distractions, it might require a bit of time to learn how to focus.
While the “biggest” distraction might vary depending on the person, some of the most common home distractions are:
– Social media and phones
– Household chores
– Constant notifications
– Family/friends/roommates in your home
– Working from a place that is too comfortable and not structured for focus (your bed, couch, recliner, etc.)