8 ways to focus when working from home

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Carlosar.

(MoneyWatch) Working at a home office is a blessing and a curse. Your commute is nil, but distractions are everywhere. Television, household chores, dogs, children, roommates and spouses can all knock you off your game. I asked dozens of those in the trenches to share their best work-from-home tips. Here are eight of the most helpful:

Work in the still of the night
"I started working from home in October last year after the birth of my second baby prompted me to start my own business. With two small children at home with me most days, it can get tricky. Many people will say to work when children are sleeping, but I [say] to work when everyone is sleeping. I have on many occasions fired up the laptop at 2 a.m. after waking up in the night." -- Cassy Small, founder of Big Fish Planning

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Silence your space (however works for you)
"As silly as this sounds, one thing that works for me is using the bathroom fan. I will go upstairs in my bedroom to do work and put on the bathroom fan. This louder, consistent humming noise is continually running in the background. When it is on, I cannot hear the phone, the door or outside distractions like cars or people talking." -- Len Saunders, author of "Keeping Kids Fit"

Dress the part of an office worker
"Regardless of whether you are working from home or not, dress as if you are going to meet with clients. This will provide you with a better professional presence [even] over the phone. And do you really want to do dishes in that nice shirt/blouse?" -- Mark Frietch, president, TAC Services

Respect your internal clock
"I'm more productive if I actually allow myself to work on my natural sleep cycle. I'm naturally a night owl, but for a long time I tried to keep regular business hours. It's an admirable thing to try to do, but I was groggy and unproductive in the morning. I finally decided to let myself work in the afternoons, evenings and sometimes well into the early morning hours. I'm able to hone in, focus and get things done. Not only am I more productive, I'm a lot happier, too!" -- Laura Williams, freelance writer and CEO of GirlsGoneSporty

Keep track of time
"I am a slave to my to do list. I make a commitment to myself, based on the amount of time that I have available before a meeting or a break, of how many items I will cross off my to do list. I then stay at my desk until that many items are crossed off. For big tasks, I set a timer for 20 minutes at a time and work like crazy for that 20 minutes before taking a short break." -- Laura Barta, founder of Whole Wide World Toys

Keep your personal life out
"For a long time, I had friends and family that assumed since I worked from home that I could simply do whatever I wanted when I wanted. Eventually I got so irritated at my boyfriend stopping by that I had to lay down a rule: if the door was shut and it was quiet inside, it meant I was basically at any kind of office and couldn't be bothered. Part of focus has so much to do with letting others know what the boundaries are." -- Desireee Baughman, blogger with Consumer Media Network and writer for InsuranceQuotes.org

Take breaks
"Don't feel guilty about leaving the house. I try to leave the house for at least two hours each day. Some days that means going to the gym. Other days it means taking my computer to Starbucks, going for a walk, or just going to the grocery store. Make weekend plans. When I went to the office everyday, my favorite way to spend my weekends was relaxing at home. Now that I work at home, I find that it's helpful to spend more time out of the house. When Monday comes around, I feel much more refreshed, focused and ready to take on the week." -- Kevin Spence, founder of Career Thoughts

Unplug yourself
"There's a reason large companies limit Internet access and websites -- because they're major time wasters. One of the best things you can do is block out a specific amount of time and unplug everything that doesn't have to do with what your task is at that very moment. Turning off your cellphone and shutting off your wireless router will eliminate the overwhelming draw that you feel to do anything but work. After you check your morning email and various other things, unplug at 9:30 a.m. and commit to not plugging back in until 12 p.m. See how much you'll get done in 2 1/2 hours of a web-less world, or, as some people call it, every day of work in the history of mankind until about 15 years ago." -- Jon Finkel, author of "The Three Dollar Scholar"

What are your best work-from-home tips?

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia user Carlosar.

[Angiealex]

I always find this tip on every time management website: if you want to get the work done, disconnect from internet and social networks. But I'm a social media manager.

It often happens to me that I start looking for a content, get distracted by something else, get back to my thing, and so on. I would be even more productive without those gaps but I definitely can't go offline to minimize them...

[gcgirlfriend]

I would add to the first tip from Cassy Small about working at night. When my kids were little, I too burned the midnight oil more times than I can count. I figured that it was better to be "tired and done" in the morning than "stressed and not done." For a long time, that was true.

As my kids got older and could go to school, I had to force myself out of that routine. Even though working late at night feels productive, I knew it wasn't really that great for my health to be that tired all the time. You'd think it woudl be easy to make the switch. But I was so used to working late, that shutting the computer down and going to bed at 11PM, felt a little lazy. I had to remind myself every night that the work would be there in the morning, and so would the quiet.

It feels like a real gift to get up in the morning, do my work, and then just be mom for the rest of the day.

Shelley Hunter
www.GiftCardGirlfriend.com.

[foundingmom]

Alternate work & home duties. If you set out to do 6 hours at your desk, you're bound to be interrupted by cleaning or cooking or TV-watching duties. Go alternative: organize your day into much shorter slots of time (say, 1-2 hours) and that way you not only focus better, but you get some exercise getting up and out of that chair, too.

[karenrtaylor]

I am intentionally neat, set daily goals, listen to loud music (that I
love) for a few minutes if I find myself being distracted, think of things
to be thankful for so my attitude is hopeful when working (I work on
marketing projects for different clients), admit when I get frustrated and
scrub something (seriously, for me it works), work at not over estimating how much I can get done (I am a type A person so I need this), celebrate small wins, do a happy dance (again seriously), if I am writing for a while I pick up the
press releases (for example) that I've written so I can see how much I
accomplished, do something small and nice for someone else (send an e card,
write a thank you card, send a funny email). Hope this helps. Karen

[LauraGiveMe10]

Great ideas! I'd add one more...
Give everything a time limit. When we're at the office, there are a lot of built in deadlines -- decisions have to be made by the end of a one-hour meeting, or reports have to be submitted before the 2pm conference call. Without those deadlines, a project could drag on forever. At home, we sometimes need to impose our own deadline so we can move on -- and not be working till midnight!

[daronpressley]

Enjoying all the comments. Here's my quick tip. Act as if... Act as if you are going into the office minus the commute. Develop a routine and schedule. Shower, get dressed, watch the news grab some breakfast and set times for lunch and a quick afternoon break. This movement allows you to get in the mindset and feeling of being in the "office." Further more by setting a schedule and taking breaks you avoid the temptation to overwork which is just as important as avoiding the temptation not to work.

- Daron Pressley

[InnovativelyOrganized]

Amy, great advice. To add one more tip to the bunch, here is my tip for working from home:

In order to work from home successfully each day, I've found it very important to have boundaries. One way I set physical boundaries is by acting as if I'm walking to work in the morning, shutting my bedroom door behind me and opening the office door. Then when the work-day is over, I do the reverse and close the office door and open the bedroom door. This ensure I don't get distracted and I keep typical work hours. The other thing I do often is walk down the street to a coffee shop either in the morning or afternoon to ensure I'm seeing people and feeling part of the city during the day.

Elizabeth Bowman, Productivity Consultant and Owner of Innovatively Organized (www.InnovativelyOrganized.com)

[MrKeithr]

Hi Amy,

I see lots of great comments and it's so nice to hear all the different ideas from everyone.

Thanks for doing this article, I'm sure it will help a lot of people.

I work from home building "Mobile Friendly" websites for small to medium size business owners. I also do SEO consulting, etc., for those that already have a website.

Here are some of my tips for success in working from home.

I have found that it is absolutely critical to recognize your business is not going to grow and prosper if you don't become very disciplined.

It is very important to have a regular schedule, work regular hours and always have an agenda for your day.

I schedule tasks on my calendar as they come up and at the end of every day I make sure to have my agenda set for the following day and/or beyond.

I look at my "To Do" list and just jump in and get busy right from the start each day. I schedule a few breaks and I allow myself to peruse my emails and strategize my business growth during my breaks, etc.

Just because I am self employed and working from home does not mean I can simply play around all day.

The freedom and flexibility that come from owning my own business is
terrific only when I am also getting my work done.

Scheduling my time and sticking to it allows for family and fun and keeps me from having to work 14-16 hour days!

My system also creates a high level of expectation on my results for my clients because they know they can depend on me to get their work done.

Realistic expectations generate realistic results!

Thanks again for your inquiry, I hope this is helpful for your readers.

Onward & Upward To Your Success,

Keith Robinson
713-416-3529
http://www.mobilewebsitescheap.com/
[e-mail]

[HowtoRaiseaMillionaire]

Amy -- great tips!
Here is one I use and have not seen in either your article or your comments!

Love your work!!

Motivational Messages
Have a few special motivational message or pictures you love hanging in your office space. These special sentiments can really keep you going. A home office can become lonely at time and when times are rough, you'll need a pick me up. There won't be a break room to go to for a quick chat with a colleague so put some visual cues that keep you going.

Ann Morgan James -- Author of How to Raise a Millionaire
Jack's Mom
www.howtoraiseamillionaire.com

[WidowsWearStilettos]

A few of my tips for focusing when working at home include:

1. GET FAMILY ON BOARD: Unless you tell them otherwise, your being at home equals ready access. You must share your expectations and need for cooperation with your family. Don't just scream at them if/when they interrupt. Let them know when you are working, if you are under a deadline, etc., and unless it is an emergency, you are to be left alone. Ask them to ask themselves, "Would I call him/her at work about this?" before they interrupt you.

2. THE TAIL DOES NOT WAG THE DOG: Understanding that the unexpected does happen, do your utmost to "plan your tomorrow tonight". Don't start returning emails, telephone calls, etc., until you have accomplished that which is highest priority to you. In this manner, you are controlling your day, rather than the reverse.

3. DAYTIME IS FOR "PEOPLE"; NIGHTTIME IS FOR "PAPER". Do whatever involves interacting with people during daytime business hours. Now is not the time to fill out time sheets, clean your office or otherwise "shuffle paper". These things can wait until after regular business hours.

4. WALK ON BY: Is your sink piled with dirty dishes? Does your laundry need folding? Does the grocery shopping need doing? Of course...but none of these things should be addressed during your work hours. If you were working in an office away from home, would you drop what you were doing at 10:15 a.m. on a Tuesday morning to go home and fold laundry? Probably not. Your in-home office is no different. Respect your office and your work time in the exact same way you would if you were working in an office outside
the home. In other words, household chores, errands, etc., can wait.

Carole Brody Fleet, bestselling author, "Widows Wear Stilettos..." (New Horizon Press) and "Happily EVEN After..." (Viva Editions); Founder and CEO, Widows Wear Stilettos, Inc.

Copyright 2012 by Widows Wear Stilettos, Inc. No reproduction or reprinting permitted without the expressed consent of Widows Wear Stilettos, Inc.