Working from home – contrary to popular belief – can be tough! The constant distractions – kids’, family, friends, staff, the dog! It can be endless. Especially if you have a bit of OCD thrown in there and you notice every pile of unfolded laundry, every dish not put away. Sound familiar? Well I have worked from home for over 20 years’ so I do know very well what it is like. But I have some quick hacks on how to be productive despite the ongoing barrage of distractions. Here we go:

1. Keep a day book. What this means is if something comes up not related to what you are currently doing, write it down and come back to it when you have the time allocated to give it your attention. Things like an idea, someone asking you to do something, a phonecall. Anything not related to the task at hand.
2. Plan ahead. If you have a young child at home, arrange for someone to watch them for a couple of hours’. And stop with the excuses! There is always someone who can watch your child for a couple of hours’ – friends’, family, put up a call out on FB, search online for babysitters/nannies. You are a businesswomen – act like one. You’re not a victim because you’re a Mum. Conversely, if you know there will be distractions, be sure to remove yourself from them. A bit of planning can be very effective in keeping you productive.
3. Set an alarm. I find working in two hour blocks works best. My brain tends to stray if I focus for any longer than that. Particularly when researching for marketing ideas. Keep that day book close, plan ahead for those two hours’ and make sure you eliminate any potential distractions, set your timer/alarm and work solid for those two hours’ then go grab a snack, a chat, a cuppa and do it again.
4. Write an action list. Make a list of all the things you wish to accomplish in the time you will be allocating. That way you have clarity, focus and powerful intention. Without this, it’s too easy to flounder and be at the mercy of social media and we all know how quickly we can be sucked into scrolling through our Facebook feeds!
5. Get support. If you are alone at home, it’s pretty easy. But if there are others involved (for instance if you can only work your business at night), get agreement from them to support you in working your solid 2 hour block. Ask hubby to care for kids’. As in number 2 in planning your time, it’s equally important to gain support. You need to ensure your entire household knows you are working so no noise, interruptions etc. Find a quiet place away from kids’, dogs, cats, TV, hubby etc. You are after all doing it for them, so make sure they are in your corner and supporting you to do what you need to do so that the whole family will benefit later on down the track.

Hope you find these useful and easy to implement into your day. It can be the difference between maximising the time you have and wasting it. Particularly if you are working a full time job – you absolutely have to be ruthless with your time as you have so much less of it. But even those of us working full-time in our businesses can fall into the hapless trap of feeling we have endless time, which obviously isn’t the case. And there is nothing worse than getting to 9pm at night and rushing to get tasks done that could have easily been done earlier. Don’t put anything off until tomorrow what you can finish today. Have fun with these hacks and feel free to share your own. Love to hear from you.