How do you stay focused on work at home?

It's sometimes easy to get distracted but aslong as you have a goal in mind each day and have self control it really isn't too hard to stay focused on what needs to be done.

i am a new in this site > i am from iraq and i am in need of a way to work from home but i dont have any experience >and i am in need of your help . thanks alot for all

It all depends on different people and whats around them. are you the type of person who can work or are you the type that can get distracted very quickly.

I was the type of person that got distracted very quick but i have over come that by looking at few things that really was distracting.

My biggest distraction was my mobile phone. while working if i got a phone call i would get carried away and be on the phone for hours and then text messages coming and me replying. the way i over come that was if i am going to work and have a target of 2/3 hours to complete a goal then i would switch my mobile of completely.

Other distraction is having a big family talking shouting and couldn't concentrate. i have shifted up in to the attic and that reduced the noise and because i am away from many i realized that i focused more in working.

MAIN KEY OF FOCUS IS TO WRITE DOWN WHAT YOUR TARGET IS AND WHAT YOU NEED TO COMPLETE AND THEN TAKE ACTION AND COMPLETE IT. IF IT IS NOT WRITTEN THEN FOR ME IT IS HARD TO FOCUS ON WHAT I NEED TO DO STEP BY STEP

Having done it for years, here are the issues:

> noise
> animals (pets) leaping around like it's their own Cirque de Soleil, knocking things over, thumping to the hardwood floor, deciding it's time for you to give them attention
> if you have family in the home, and you shut your office door, they will think you're mad at them
> people thinking "it can't be a big deal, he's just on the computer" and feeling it's OK to interrupt you at any time
> too much freedom, in that you can flip over to WF or Facebook or Youtube and waste as much time as you like...and no boss is going to complain.

It is much harder to work from home than an office. If you can afford an office, get one. The separation of home and work ought to be like the separation of church and state, if you'll forgive an extremely rare semi-political analogy. You'll be more productive and have better relationships.

As far as work flow goes, try different structures and see what works for you. The Pomodoro Method doesn't do much for me--I'm a "get it started and stick with it until it's done come hell or high water" kind of guy. But I know that kind of process works well for others.

Yeah you have to schedule as best you can.

1. Focused one hour period of work, and then a short break.

2. Do not check your email or social media sites. Don't even check your stats.

It's not easy. I like to work early in the morning or late at night when it's quiet .

Turn off CNN or ESPN and turn ON talk radio.


You don't need your eyes shifting towards the television each time you hear a trigger word.

This is my first day in this forum and I want to make money and doubled, and you possessed the experience more than me in the piece, I want you some advice and guidance and proper thanks

1) Stick to a Schedule
2) Designate a Space
3) Take Breaks
4) Block out noise
5) Tell your family that you are going to go through a period of hardcore studying/work
6) Get dressed
7) Avoid home distractions
8) Limit the number of times you check e-mail
9) Don't handle personal tasks during working hours
10) Add deadlines to your task list

There is no "how." You just do it. Even asking the question is establishing doubt. You have to take the reigns of your conscious mind and tell it how things are going to be or it will own you.

I use google calendar synchronised to my phone, tablet, and mac/pc.
I set up time after work to excercise, then work, and then enjoy life, which I tend to overwork into

After two weeks I was committed to it without needing a schedule. I've also turned my spare room into an office so I can just separate myself and get on with no distraction.

My advice, if you can afford to rent a office, do it.

Think of it like a gym membership. A lot of people pay for a gym membership, even when they have the ability to exercise at home. It's the mindset, you know that when you go, you're purpose is to workout (or just "work" in this case). It's also the monthly investment that can motivate you to use it.

Think you can't afford it? You'd be surprised at how little some office spaces go for on Craig's list.
(I've seen them as cheap at $100 per month in some areas)

Honestly, for some people it's just the environment that helps them focus. You may have been subconsciously trained that home is for family/play/leisure and the office is where crap gets done. Whatever the reason, it works. Environment is important.

If you truly can't afford to rent an office, you've got to set off blocks/a block of time that you guard like frickin pit bull. I recommend early hours in the morning when no one is awake to bother you. Does your family wake up at 7am every morning? Then I would wake up at 4 or 5am -7am, and FOCUS on your most income producing activities during that time. Get crap done. No checking statuses on Facebook, no watching funny cat videos on Youtube, >FOCUS<

Make sure you know exactly what you need to get done in that time frame. It helps to create a "to-do" list of 3-5 tasks the night before. Start with number 1 and work your way down. Your goal is to stay laser focused until it's all done.

Another bonus of doing it this way, is that you don't feel you're taking time away from your family (or pets) during the day.

That's my 2 cents. Hope it helps.

it is easy to get lost in a thousand distractions, I make breaks of 10 minutes, sometimes I read good book to relax the view, but the goal I have always in mind, make money, expand my income .. I think already this alone is enough to give strong reasons

Working at home has a lot of pros and cons. If you wish to stay focused i suggest that you treat it as though you're working in an office. Create a schedule for yourself and a checklist of tasks. Don't open any unnecessary webpages, the television, or the radio. Don't eat snacks or have many breaks.

For me, money is a big motivator -- especially now that the holiday season is around the corner. My niece and nephew already ask me for stuff on a regular basis, and it just gets worse during this time of year. Anyway, I think that making a schedule can be good, but it's important to do the things that make you money first. I'm also one of those people that has to work in chunks of time -- like half an hour or 45-minute increments. When I plan to my schedule, I do it in such a way that I anticipate this.

Joey

This has worked well for me:

1) designate a "office" area in your home - ask family members to not disturb you if you are in that area
2) dress as if you were going into an actual office - put on a suit and tie if you must
3) take breaks, but resume work mode once you are in the "office" area

good luck!

Create ritual around your focus. If possible, work at the same time, in the same uncluttered space. Even pick a song that focuses you and listen to it each time you begin work. Do it enough times and you condition your brain to remember the state.

As a modification to the hour of work and short break, I recommend 45 minutes instead. Most of us think in terms of hours because of our culture, but stopping at 45 prevents the "Oh, finally, I made it through a whole hour, I'm so tired now..." thoughts that can prevent you from starting your work again when the break is over.

Also, experiment. Don't set up your ritual of work until you've tried working in the morning, afternoon, evening, in different rooms, with music, with silence. Everybody is different. I need to be completely alone, but I have friends that love to work in coffee shops. As a musician I tend to follow music pretty consciously, so I listen to a song or two that brings me into focus then turn on either pure binaural beats (alpha), or transition to silence.

Try your best to get all your personal stuff out of the way before you start marketing. It's always a good thing to have a healthy mind before you start marketing. It's good for productivity.

Also, don't spend more than 1 hour per day marketing your website. In truth, it shouldn't take that long. After that, go and enjoy your day, and fill your day up with pleasurable things that you like to do.

Turn off the TV, turn off the music, turn off the telephone, turn off messaging and email, get a room to yourself, let nobody in but yourself, and stay off the porn sites on your computer.

By recognizing that if you don't stay focused, you won't have a home.

With me I just focus on what needs to be done.

So I have a list of activities that I need to be working on each day and I make sure that I do them each day.

Sometimes if I get a bit distracted I will set a timer and focus on getting a task done before the timer.

Us humans tend to respond better to deadlines....

Be structured with what you need to do and work on getting it done.

Cheers

Tiff

Yes, this can be a difficult one. The night before I try to define what needs doing the following day and prioritise those tasks.

I try to work in small highly focused periods of time with NO distractions; no phone, email, FB etc. and keep going for your allotted time. I find 30 minutes works best for me. Then have a break and go back to it.

Having family around, especially kids, can be tough but they now know when I am in the"zone" and tend to leave me alone!!

I think this is where goal setting really comes into play, even if it appears a little cliched!

I also try to read emails only twice per day; like many have said, you need to focus on your top tasks for the day and get cracking!

I have always had that problem myself..
Yesterday, I bought a Kindle book,"Drive-How To Overcome Entrepreneurial Distractions" by Sean Mize which addressed this issue in some detail.
Thanks

Lots of good tips. One thing I would add is to know yourself. In the sense of knowing when your strongest energy of the day is--like, do you work best in the morning? Then plan all your big heavy creative work for the morning.

Also take a long lunch, chew slowly, savor the tastes, breathe, let your mind rest. Get renewed for the afternoon .

One of the biggest distractions is right in your computer/tablet/mobile phone - the internet! Once you're hooked with social media pages or any interesting articles/photos/videos that has nothing to do with your business, you're done! You've just wasted xx hours! This is because your mind always want to wander specially if it doesn't like the stage of the job you're in e.g. encoding, listing, copywriting or any boring part of your work at home job. It happened to me countless times.

This is one of those weird threads, but it does remind me why so many people are fat: complete lack of self control.

Put a suit and tie on to go to work at home? Did someone REALLY say that? Wow...

Your family will think you are mad at them if you close your office door and ask them not to disturb you while you are working? Is it really that hard to say "I'm not mad at you, I just need no distractions to do my work"? You're supposed to be salesmen, but you can't even sell your own family on the fact that you need alone time to work and it's not because you are mad at them?? REALLY?

Just do your work. Quit making excuses and do it. The fact that people would pay money to rent an office, and drive to the office wasting even more time, solely because they don't have the self control to work at home is astounding.

I personally use an egg timer set to 99 minutes and make it a game to see how much I can get done in that time. Then take a break…rinse and repeat.

Also, I find that I'm most productive if I do my "feared things first." That which I really don't want to do, I get out of the way first. That way, later on in the day, (when I'm a little more tired an unfocused) I can do stuff that I like to do. And, I do have alarms set on my phone: when work starts, lunch, and clocking out. I know it may seem a bit extreme, but I need a short leash sometimes!

If you find that you really do need to get out of the house to be productive, but don't yet have the cash-flow to get your own office, check out coworking spaces in your area. There, you rent a desk, not a full office, you'll be surrounded by other freelancers, so you won't feel isolated. Many people find that coworking is a pretty good balance.

Here's a nearly comprehensive list by state: Coworking spaces for the self-employed | Queen of the Random Job

It's not easy with a two-year-old running around. She's my granddaughter so I do get to close the door now and then. And often I go to the local library (where I am now) with my laptop and work from here. There are no distractions, the change of scenery does my mind good and I can focus better, and the walk here and back does me good.

This is exactly what I was going to say! What are the odds??

The challenge for me is to un-focus on it.

It is important to take breaks constantly. Especially when you are working with PC. I know that in some countries there are laws that defines work with computer. Those, who keep working with PC all day, have to take breaks after each working hour for 10 minutes. And that really works. Just go for a cup of coffe or tea/read a newspaper or smth and escape your work related minds.

Best way to stay focussed working from home is to allocate a certain amount of time to certain tasks.
Remember most people's attention span will also fall after about an hour.

Break your day into 30 min and 60 min chunks.
Assign tasks to each of these 'slots'
And remember to take a 15 mins break, get a coffee etc after each hour.

That is how I focus and try and keep disciplined.

Thanks

Most of the truth is already shared here, but I want to reiterate some of it because it's So True.

1) I keep a task list, and I make sure I drive thru it
2) When my mind DOES wander, I allow myself a 5 or 10 minute break...that's healthy!...but no longer in 1 block.
3) I'll put on a motivational CD or YouTube a video of an interview with a business leader I admire. That' keeps me focused.

Most importantly: Get in the habit of asking yourself "Is this the BEST use of my time???"
This pertains not only to the breaks you take during the day, but the tasks you tackle in the day as well.
Get in the habit of calling yourself out when you wander off track...and quickly get back ON track!

Develop a deep interest in discovering and listening to music that isn't mainstream. You can do your work while you listen to the music that you've discovered... Works for me. Keeps me busy.

This has to be my biggest problem when it comes to working from home. There are just so many distractions to pull you away from your business.

Something that has worked well for me is to set up an office in my home. I have made it look as close to an actual business office as possible so that I actually feel like I am "at the office" rather than in my home.

Also, I try to set a schedule for myself. I try to always eat breakfast, shower, shave, etc, and be at my desk by 10am every morning. I try not trying to start too early. After all, that is the point of working for yourself!

The idea is to set a routine, much like you would have if you had an actual "9-5" job.

So many distractions but with well planning schedule. You are fine!

For me it's knowing exactly what I'm going to work on as soon as I switch on the laptop.

So I guess having a plan.

And I like the Eugene Schwartz methods of 33 minutes and 33 seconds. Break and then repeat.

That and daily progress.

I guess that's executing the plan.

As soon as one of those stops happening... the work stops happening.

If you are lacking self discipline you are going to lose a lot of opportunities and money in the long run. It's ok these ideas with creating your working space, and listening to something specific, renting an office and everything that control the outer world.

BUT if you don't control your inner world everything else is pointless. I've seen people concentrate and focus in a 5 m2 noisy room and give their best, and some can't get a fresh idea in their big office.

Practice self discipline, make a work schedule and respect it. Don't let nothing and no one interrupt you. Start you day with some physical exercises to boost your metabolism and clear your mind. Less TV, more books. Keep a journal , set daily goals, give yourself deadlines.

There are a lot of methods to work on yourself. All you need is to get that focus and you will get through any distraction or obstacle.