Avoiding the Temptations of Home: Using the Great Home Office Effectively
So now you’ve set-up your home office. You’re ready to start getting the job done and avoid the temptations of home!
Well, not quite. The home office is set up to minimize distractions. Now make sure everything’s at hand.
In the office (yes dear readers, I’m a corporate drone and a freelancer), my department (marketing) got the short end of the stick. We’ve been relocated at least thrice within the last quarter, so we decided to leave our file cabinets in a relatively deserted area.
This “solution” was born out of desperation with the big bosses’ indecision. It does save my back from having to push really heavy cabinets some 100 feet (I’m not kidding!). Unfortunately, it also means when we need to consult our files, or dig up old collaterals, we have to do a little walking.
Walking is healthy for you. But in this case, taking more than ten steps disrupts your productivity. And don’t you hate it when you realize you forgot what you were looking for, meaning you have to return to your desk to remember? More wasted time! All my files, reference materials, and supplies relevant to my freelance career are in a cabinet right beside my desk.
The point is, when working at home, or anywhere for that matter, it helps that everything you need is nearby. Besides, walking through your home’s minefield of distractions (imagine passing by the tv, bed, and fridge!) can prove fatal to your focus.
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POSTED IN: Avoiding the Temptations of Home, Ways to Work Faster
3 opinions for Avoiding the Temptations of Home: Using the Great Home Office Effectively
Vyoma
Jan 25, 2007 at 12:03 pm
I can imagine what you are saying even though I am not a Freelancer - I am a ‘corporate drone’.
But when I am involved with personal projects, I keep things are reference material handy. I even keep a water bottle.
Yes, keep a water bottle handy.
The time I was involved with the NaNoWriMo last year, I would be pounding at my keyboard, and then, the break to get a glass of water from the kitchen was so distracting, it took me several minutes to get back in the flow of creative writing.
Rico
Jan 25, 2007 at 6:00 pm
Great example Vyoma. Even the little things count big.
Contract Worker - 18 Ways to Stay Focused While Working, Part 1
Mar 14, 2007 at 12:06 pm
[…] Fill up a water bottle. In a general sense, having everything you need at hand lessens interruptions. Like Vyoma, who keeps “a water bottle handy. […]
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