Working from home has increased in popularity over the past several years.
But today, amidst the COVID-19 crisis, it’s not only popular, but required for many. Moving from a hustle-and-bustle professional workspace to a home office can be a major transition for many. To help you make the move successfully, here are a few tips to reduce distractions while working from home:
Pipe in background music
Listening to relaxing, lyric-free music, like Mozart or classical piano, is not only calming for the soul, but offers white noise to kill the distraction of silence and help with focus.
Keep a to-do list
Whether on a notepad or electronically, just mapping out your day via a to-do list will help keep you motivated and on track.
Use other visual tools to stay organized
Put up a small dry erase board and make notes or sketch out processes as you brainstorm ideas in solitude.
Get up and get out
Don’t sit at a desk all day. Taking short breaks throughout the day will keep you energized and reduce burnout. Take a short walk outside or even tackle a few small in-home tasks that may be distracting you.
Create a true office setting
Don’t just set up shop at the dining room table. Create an actual workspace, complete with a desk, comfy chair, photos, candy jar—whatever you need to feel like you have a dedicated office or workspace.
Stay off of social media
This can be a major distraction no matter where you are working, so try to keep social sites out of your browser tabs. And maybe even move social apps off of your phone’s home screen for a while.
Close your door
If you have a dedicated office, reduce focus-killing noises from other rooms by simply closing your door. The more you feel like you are at the office, the better.
These are just a few proven tips to reduce home-office distractions. We hope you find them helpful!
