Being a work-at-home mother is one of the best/worst/harderst/rewarding thing that could have ever happened to me.
I get to spend time working on projects that I love, while knowing I am my kids best caregiver. Plus, I’ve recently started to show other work-at-home mothers how to make working from home a real option for them. While everybody thinks its sunshine and rainbows its is a hard job by this one simple fact… the fact that I need to constantly stave off distractions! There are many. Trust me.
You see when you’re working in an office, it is easy to stay focused because pretty much everyone else is working, plus you have a boss who keeps an eye on you.
But when you’re working at home, you have folks listening to music, watching television, needing something from you and you are your own boss.
How do you stay focused and avoid distractions? First by identifying them. Yes, learn what are your major distractions and then, deal with them.
So, here are the top 5 distractions that a work-at-home mom faces along with handy ‘stay focused’ tips to get you all organized and productive:
1. Email
Yes, email unfortunately does get in our way while we work. Checking email every 30 minutes or even hourly is NOT good for productivity and getting things done. Instead, schedule 2-3 time slots every day and keep them exclusively for checking and replying to emails and if possible, shift to Gmail, it has a great suite of apps that are handy for any business.
Stay Focused: Keep email reading and replying for mornings after you’ve done your 1st session of work, noon before you take your first break for lunch and night, before you shut down for the day.
2. Social Media
Ahh, we all love tweeting and Facebooking, pinning and stumbling. And yes, it is important too. You get to network and connect with others, learn what’s happening online and give your mind a rest too. However, when you get sucked into your Twitter stream or tangled up in pinboards, it is time to step back and take a look at how to make social media really work for you.
Stay Focused: Like email, schedule time for networking. Automate updates for your business or blog so that you don’t have to share them real-time. Applications like, Tweetdeck and Hootsuite can really simplify that for you.
3. Family Members, Especially Kids
We work at home because we want to be with our little ones. However, sometimes the little ones can be big sources of distraction. “Mommy, I need {juice/milk/cookies/Buzz Lightyear!}”, often pull me away from my desk and make me lose my focus and flow. Please tell me I’m not alone!
Stay Focused: Schedule heavy-duty work activities for times when either your kids are away at school, asleep or with someone to watch them and do the need fulfillment. I now shut off the laptop when my daughter comes home from preschool or wakes from her nap. If I have to keep it on, I only do things that don’t require a LOT of focus – social networking or email.
4. Household Chores
Working at home means we get caught up in cleaning, decluttering, dishwashing, laundry, cooking, cleaning, decluttering. Yeah, you get it. Household chores are important and yes, they need to be done. But not when you’re supposed to be working. Schedule times and days to tackle household chores. You can always focus on the harder you work one day you can hire help to clean your home 😉
Stay Focused: Set working hours. Don’t think about the load of laundry when you’re working on a project.
5. You
Finally, it is YOU who can be quite the distraction to yourself and your work. Unfortunately, we ourselves can end up distracting ourselves. However, handling this one is easy. If you take action everyday to organize and stay focused, chances are you’ll end up doing MUCH more with your day as a work-at-home mother.
Stay Focused: Use the tips and ideas in this post to create a schedule that works for your lifestyle and personality.The night before set up a list of the 6 most important things to do, keep to the list! You’ll see yourself making progress everyday.
How do you stay on top of distractions as a work-at-home mom?
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