Distractions in the workplace from home

Is it Friday already? Daniel Umstead here, writing to you from Philadelphia, PA.? Go Eagles! ?

These past years being in a work from home role, I find myself to be distracted and not your typical distraction in a workplace – new gossip, cake party, or your typical shared meme by that favorite co-worker.?

No, these distractions are in my home, and although I personally have been productive, some people find it hard to adjust, especially if they have been in an office for quite some time or found themselves in a great opportunity but not in the ideal work from home environment.? My distractions are my amazing, obnoxious neighbors coupled with the postal worker who I hope finds happiness; I think she is on her 3rd boyfriend based on her exuberant conversations near the mailbox.?

So you are reading this and asking yourself, is there a solution???

And yes!? There are actually multiple solutions to avoid these distractions, but the biggest comes from your schedule.? ?

Oh yeah, you need to pull out that calendar or look back in your outlook/google/ical/(insert your favorite calendar here) from the past weeks and see where at times you were the most productive or may have had more time compared to the rest of your day.?

?So tip #1 as you can guess;?

1. Schedule your schedule, if you look back in the past week or so you can see a trend going on as to where you were most productive or where most of your meetings may lie.? When working from home, you may find that your quiet time could be in the afternoon or in the morning.? Find your schedule and schedule.? Start scheduling your time based on your availability and when you have been most productive.?

Tip #2, throw your phone across the room or on focus mode, I prefer the latter;?

2. Focus Mode, you need to Google this or YouTube it, but there is a way or an app that will either lock your phone during a time that you set so you don’t have to answer any messages, pings, or see that notification from Candy Crush Saga that says you have more lives.? ?

And finally, tip #3, this one is for the managers and supervisors out there;?

Are you ready??

You are still reading this, you must really be anticipating the answer.?

Are you sure, you are ready???

Ok, here it comes;?

3. Communicate, yeah, that’s it.? Just communicate, have a great weekend and let’s go Eagles!? I kid, I kid.? But really communicate with your staff and ask them how they prefer to communicate.? Coming from both ends, I have found that the best relationships between employee and manager is simply communicating the preferred style of communication.? We are all human, we can communicate via text, email, phone, pings, fax (I still think people use these, not sure), mail, express delivery, social media, et cetera and et cetera.? Find the common ground between your employees and you on how you should communicate with one another when it comes to a project, tasks, deadlines or upcoming meetings.?

So your assignment, yes, there is an assignment:? After reading this article, find your favorite tip and comment below.? Or, you can take your favorite tip, apply it to your workload and let folks know how you benefited.?

"If we learn to understand each other, we will have a better understanding of ourselves."

-Sarah Gadon