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More employers these days are offering “Work From Home” opportunities, which are truly a great incentive. I work in the Greater San Diego area, gas and travel times for me are a massive expense (time is money after all)! These work from home incentives though bring up new issues; like adjusting to the new work environment, equipping yourself to be successful, keeping focused and on track.

I have found I am far more successful working from home in regards to completing things in a fast and effective manner. I am typically less prone to distraction and able to knuckle down when needed. I also have a workstation more equipped at home, a high-end ergonomic chair, multiple monitors, a more powerful computer, optimal headset, coffee in the same room.

I think my biggest focus struggle while at home is finding more to do, once I have completed my “laundry list” I typically begin to slow down.

I wanted to know, from those of you with “Work From Home” opportunities, how do you keep yourself focused and successful while working from your home environment? How do you keep yourself busy? How do you shut out distractions you may have around the house; dog, tv, and family?

69 Spice ups
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When I work from home, I find the best thing for not getting distracted is…ooh shiny.

87 Spice ups
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It helps to have a dedicated home office, not a laptop in the living room in front of the TV. Keep a to do list, and remind family members when your in your Office you ARE at work.

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I find that getting out of my pajamas and actually wearing work clothes helps.

That’s if they actually let me work from home lol

23 Spice ups
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I have an ‘office’ room (with mostly tools lol) and computers so I kind of lock myself in the room, still dress a little up so if you need to webcam you are presentable ad just treat it like you’d be at work.

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I have to sit and field occasional phone calls and emails and such all day long. I am in a spare bedroom so no TV in the room. The dog has gotten used to my schedule, takes a bit, but he is on the room with me all day. My kids being home during the summer is a bit more of a challenge but they know it is work time and they minimize the interruptions.

I have my work machine setup and a personal Chromebook on the side to play with. I cruise Spiceworks off and on all day long, look up stuff needed for the house and whatnot as time allows. You need to have an occasional distraction available so you can relax a bit through the day. I have times when there is a great push of stuff and it is easy to push it off until there is a moment. In an office you get distractions all day, most seem irritating but believe it or not they are needed for general sanity!

It’s all in getting into your rhythm, what works best for you. I have found out that there are many that cannot survive working from home, they are too distractible and don’t have the right mindset to do this.

EDIT - I work phones when needed, no webcams, I wear shorts or sweats and t-shirts all year long!

4 Spice ups
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As we often get more done when we work from home because of the reduced distractions and superfluous communications. You end up with time left at the end of the day for a change, use this time for Continuing education and project work. You make that work from home time more valuable to yourself and your employer.

I find project work in particular much easier from home, because you can work without distraction and really sink into the work.

12 Spice ups
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I had work from home options twice in my career so far. One was as an employee with a small MSP and the other was when I started consulting as my own business. The difference for me was that as an employee, I got paid whether I worked or not so it was very hard to stay focused. When I became my own boss, I took working from home much more seriously, if I didn’t produce, I didn’t get paid and worse, could lose a client.

As others have stated, have a dedicated work space, preferably with a door, and try to stay on task like you would if you were sitting in a room full of co-workers.

Also, as much as I love music, I can’t really have it on when I work from home or I start slacking off. That’s just me probably.

4 Spice ups
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Working from home actually makes me more focused than if I were at work, but that might just be me. I end up not talking to my coworkers around me, which allows me to actually pay attention to my work. I also notice a difference between listening to music out loud at home and through my headphones, I tend to concentrate a bit better when I’m listening to music in my headphones.

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If my kids are at school I focus fine!

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I actually like the TV on when I’m working from home because it works like all the talking going on at the office which I have no issue tuning out.

3 Spice ups
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I enjoy working from home from time to time. I definitely get more done as well due to less distractions. In the office I sit along side everyone else so I get a lot of “walk-up requests”. I do like being in the office too though as it’s nice to have actual social interaction (and occasional free lunches and beer).

If I’m in the office and really need to get shit done, I have to hide out in a conference room or something so people cant find me.

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I have a hard time focusing when at home. Luckily it only happens a couple times a year, usually snowy days that I would rather not make the drive in and back for.

After hours remote work is no problem, it is task related, I will be on as long as it takes to accomplish a task then I can go to sleep. Wife is usually in bed so there are very limited distractions.

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My work setup is pretty great, so I don’t WFH often.

But when I do, I find it really easy to focus in my quiet, empty flat. It doesn’t matter where I sit, I will always need a nudge to look up from my laptop and actually move from my seat!

I guess it helps if you have genuinely absorbing stuff to work on, as well - I’m lucky like that :slight_smile:

When I need to focus, in-ear headphones are my go-to: even if there’s no music playing, they muffle external noise.

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I work from home a lot more than in our HQ 50 miles away. Great for lack of interruption, and with UC tools it’s largely transparent to colleagues since we all use Skype for Business to communicate with each other even if we’re just 3 desks away. Unless I turn the camera on during a call just to be fashion-forward. (Still enjoy the value and socialization of odd days at HQ visits).

I’m with Laura L about the role of a headset, of course, and personally like either the in-ear BackBeat Fit or the over-the-head active noise cancelling Voyager Focus UC to put me ‘in the zone’. Of course, I don’t have to pay for them :slight_smile: Even without a headset just streaming a Pandora station is good to reduce distractions. KD Lang and baroque classical work well for me, since you asked…

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I used to be more efficient working from home. Less distractions…Until my baby came along…

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Team work and you can contributing individually, take “work from home”. Otherwise come to office before me.

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If 'm at home I can’t “just have a quick look at this for me” so it’s actually easier to focus.

I find the problem is, where in the Office I notice everybody’s’ going home, if I’m already at home I’ll tend to “just finish this off” and find it’s late at night when I next look up!

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I think OP’s question was how to keep focused while working from home vs what is good or bad about it. Sure, everyone’s circumstances are different and how they manage their time/distractions, but getting recommendations certainly doesn’t hurt in this case because it just might make things easier :slight_smile:

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Just remind yourself “this work pays for this house”, that should be enough motivation for anyone.

7 Spice ups