It’s hot out today. Not just a little bit hot. It’s 90 plus degrees with very oppressive humidity. This is certainly not unheard of for a summer day in Vermont, but it sure makes me take notice of the fact that my house is not air conditioned. In summers past, I would look forward to going to work on days like these because it meant that I could take refuge in an air conditioned office. Now that I work from home, I try to keep cool as best I can with the help of a few big fans.
My efforts to keep myself from melting have got me thinking about a topic that I’m sure all home business owners have dealt with at one time or another, distraction. I can think of a few things that could easily distract me from my work today. For example, a pool, even a kiddie pool would do right now. Any container of water that I could sit in and be refreshed. Even though I don’t have a pool to distract me, I have become aware that while there are many benefits of working from home there are also distractions aplenty that can quickly eat up the time that I set aside for work.
Most days, I try to use my son’s nap times to get some work done. Sometimes I am able to get a few things done but usually there are other tasks like washing dishes and taking a shower that compete for these valuable (and often short) spans of time. I do find that I am able to really focus on my work and get a lot done after he goes to bed. Even during these longer stretches of time, there are dishes to wash and other things that need doing in addition to my work. When I do choose work over other household tasks, there’s always the possibility that I will get distracted from my work by an email or phone call on an unrelated matter or, on days like today, something completely unrelated to work like trying to keep myself cool and comfortable.
What can a home business owner do to minimize distractions and be more productive? I have done a little research for advice on this topic and have come up largely empty-handed. Many articles have been written on the topic of minimizing distraction in the home office, but the things that the articles suggest, such as getting a babysitter and setting specific work hours, are not things that fit my situation. I did find some relevant tips that were written by a work at home mother of a young child and I am going to try to implement some of them and see how that goes.
How do you handle distractions?