Working from home has its perks, but is it more distracting than helpful?
Working from home has become a lot for people’s day normal day when it comes to working. Many companies have felt that putting most, if not all their employees in a remote working title will help spread the risk of the COVID-19 virus. It may even help cut some financial costs for the company. There have been many companies that have opted to do a hybrid situation where some of their employees stay home while others are still working in the company’s office. There are even some hybrid options where all employees work from home but come into the office at least 1-2 times a week.
All of these are great countermeasures to avoid the spread of COVID and have been a way that people are enjoying their work experience. Many of us out there have jobs in which we now have to work from home and are loving it. The easy access to work, the comfort of working in our relaxing clothes instead of a stuffy “corporate-approved” outfit, or even just getting a chance to roll out of bed and instantly go to work shortly after. It has been some people’s driving light towards working harder. Once we get something we enjoy, we as people tend to do whatever it takes to hold onto that as long as possible.
There are people out there who have worked harder at home in order to prove they have what it takes to thrive while working from home. Many others are working harder at home due to the fact that they are feeling more comfortable at home, as opposed to the social anxiety they may get while working in a crowded office. There are some companies out there that see working from home as a privilege for their employees to continue to earn instead of a safety measure. The companies that see that may be looked at as micromanaging, but it is put into effect to make sure that their employees are working as hard as they say while being at home.
Working from home is a privilege. You have to earn it just like anything else in this world. Sure, the pandemic has made it kind of a necessity, but if you abuse it then you are ruining it for the people who continue to work hard and do well at it. Nobody wants to be one of the people that takes something great away from people, especially when it comes to people’s careers. It is a tool to help you be successful and not an opportunity to relax at home by doing minimal to no work. Not a lot of people are doing this but sadly people are taking advantage of the opportunity people are getting by working from home.
One of the biggest things that many people experience while working from home is distractions. Many people have children who are too young for school and due to the pandemic, most daycare centers are not open to prevent the spread of COVID. It is impossible to work and watch your kids at the same time. No matter how many people claim they can do both, you are always going to focus on your kids more than work.
It is understandable that you may not have the resources to get childcare with the craziness that is going on in the world. The best thing you can do is to get with your spouse or other family members to see if they can help you to watch your kids full time or even partially so that you can tend to them on breaks. It is hard to balance both but if you have a good and scheduled system you will be able to build your success.
Other people may get distracted at home by having movies or TV shows going on in the background. Sure, this can be a nice way to fill your home office with some ambient noise while you’re working but 9 times out of 10 you are going to turn and watch whatever is on. You may tell yourself that you will watch just for a moment. You would be surprised how quickly a moment can turn into an hour. Sadly, we all can get sucked into a good show. The best way to not get visually distracted is to have something entertaining that is audio-based like an audiobook, podcast, or even music.
Another thing many people get distracted by is not by things, but the environment they are in. Most people have a little space or spare room that they can tuck themselves away in and stay focused. While this is the case for many, there are people out there who don’t have the extra space to hide away while they work from home. A lot of the time people are working at their kitchen counter, kitchen table, couch, or a chair somewhere in their living room. The bad thing is that by doing this you are putting yourself in areas that will easily distract you. These areas are very much high traffic areas. If you have other people home besides you, most likely they will cross your path or try to talk to you more than you want.
This is by far the biggest thing people do when trying to work from home and getting too distracted. You are opening yourself up to fail when you put yourself in these high-traffic areas. It is tough when you don’t have any room, but even as comfortable sitting on the couch is or how isolated you think the kitchen is, you will be quickly disappointed. The best thing to do if you don’t have any extra rooms available for a home office is to work out of your bedroom. You can easily get a smaller desk that won’t take up too much room and be an area you know no one will bother you in or will be very likely to rarely happen. Remember you have what it takes to be successful and work from home. It just takes a bit of extra effort.
