March 24, 2024 • 7 mins
Ever feel like your home office is more like a
market than a quiet workspace? Today I’ll
share the scoop on keeping your head in the game when every little thing around you screams for attention.
If you're serious about making remote work, well, work for you, this is the episode you can't afford to miss.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, it's Alex from Remote Work Life here.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Remote Work Life podcast.
I appreciate you being here andthank you for your attention.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
I really appreciate it andtoday, as ever on these episodes
(00:20):
, I just want to share quicktips that I can hope can help
you to improve your remote worklife and, as ever, I also
request that you let me know ofany sort of tips that you use in
order to do just that.
So today we want to talk aboutlimiting distractions, to
(00:41):
improve focus and productivityand working from home especially
.
I work from home a lot.
There's lots of distractions.
There's lots of things thathave distracted me in the past.
There's lots of potentialdistractions that are there now
that can lead to a lack of focus, a lack of productivity and, as
(01:07):
a remote work, you have to bereally disciplined to avoid and
sort of reduce distractions,because there are so many and I
have a family.
I have three children.
In fact, two of my kids are athome, one is at university.
They're quite young, they'requite excitable, especially
(01:28):
during the periods of timeduring the holidays, so they are
a potential distraction.
That's obviously when you'rehome with your kids, the
temptation is to go and do stuffwith them, or you know if
they're arguing or fighting tosplit them up, or whatever it
may be.
As you work from home, as youwork remotely, you begin to put
(01:55):
things in place to mitigatethose distractions and you work
together with your family sothat they understand the
situation, especially if youhave kids that are old enough to
understand, which I amfortunate to have, although I
did go through periods of timewhen they didn't understand as
(02:15):
much.
But apart from the children notthe only distraction, of course,
there are other things like Idon't know, putting the washing
on or doing the washing up,hanging the washing out.
I'm sure there's things thatother people get distracted by
things on the TV, things on theradio, things on social media.
There's so many distractions,so many things that can distract
you.
But having said that, it's notremote workers are not the only
(02:39):
people that get distracted.
But if you are working fromhome, as I said, the
distractions are there.
But, as I said, to make it asuccess, you have to be
disciplined in order to do that.
And here are a few tips for youthat I've learned not just from
my own experiences, but fromother people who work remotely,
(03:00):
in order to limit distractions,to improve focus and
productivity.
So number one is you have toidentify what those distractions
are.
So early on I used to put awashing and hanging the washing
out.
It was well-intentioned and Ididn't necessarily see that as a
distraction, but it was adistraction.
It didn't need to be done atthat particular point.
(03:21):
So I identified that as adistraction for me and I said to
myself I was intentional aboutsaying I don't need to put that
on now, I can put it on later, Ican put it on a timer, et
cetera.
All those different things.
You have to take note of thecommon distractions.
Obviously, social media is oneof those things.
(03:43):
I don't really do social mediaa lot.
Even notifications on yourphone, that red dot that appears
when you get a new notificationon WhatsApp or on social media.
I completely switched that offduring the day because that was
a massive distraction for me.
Even though you're sort ofreplying to a one-minute message
or, sorry, replying to amessage for a minute or so, that
(04:07):
has a cumulative effect ifsomebody is messaging you
continuously through the day.
So things like social media,email and, as I said, even
household noise as well.
Me as a podcaster, there's lotsof noise around.
I've learned to accept.
Now I don't have a dedicatedstudio, so I've learned to
accept that when I come to myimprovised studio so let's talk
(04:29):
about that that there are goingto be noises around and I have
to just try to avoid thosedistractions and be disciplined
enough to sort of get mypodcasting work done, for
example, and not sort of besucked in and drawn into them.
So you need to create a plan tominimize their impact on your
work day.
So that's identifying thosedistractions.
(04:51):
Number two is finding adedicated workspace.
Even if you don't have anoffice as such, you need to find
a space that you dedicate toyour work.
It may be that you have morethan one space that's dedicated
to your work, but find thatspace.
And that space should becomfortable, it should be
functional, it should supportgood posture, it should be as
(05:11):
quiet as possible, it shouldreduce physical strain during
long work hours.
So that's number two dedicatedworkspace.
Number three set boundaries.
So communicating your workhours and availability with your
team, with your family.
This can help with transparencyand helps manage expectations.
It reduces interruptions and Ican testify to that.
(05:34):
It reduces interruptions duringyour focus time, which I'm
doing right now.
This is my focus time.
I'm focusing on producing thispodcast for you.
I've got my family here, I'vegot my wife, got my kids, so
I've set that boundary.
I've said to them listen, I'mrecording this podcast.
Now Please don't come in whileI'm doing that.
So that's number three.
(05:54):
Number four taking regularbreaks.
So incorporating breaks,regular breaks and a dedicated
lunchtime into the schedule.
Put your lunchtime into yourcalendar.
Share that with with the peoplein your household, if you're
working from home, or your team,if you're working on a team
basis, whether they're local orinternational.
This allows for mental rest andpromotes overall well-being
(06:16):
throughout the work day.
And number five on my listwellness rituals, which is
something that I've repeatedover and over again is
considering incorporatingwellness rituals into breaks
such as deep breathingmeditation.
Go for a quick walk to rechargeyour batteries.
So those are my five tips foryou to hopefully help you to
(06:39):
limit distractions and improvefocus and productivity in your
life If you're working on aremote basis, especially if
you're working from home.
What other tips can you suggest?
Please leave some suggestionsin the notes.
Please leave a review in thenotes as well and let me know
what you think of the podcast.
Please leave a review as wellIf you're enjoying these
(07:01):
episodes, and also pleaseconsider resharing this with
your network so that hopefullyit can reach as many people as
possible.
But all I'd say is until thenext time.
I wish you all the best andI'll see you on the next episode
.
Hey, it's Alex from Remote Work Life here.
Welcome to another episode ofthe Remote Work Life podcast.
I appreciate you being here andthank you for your attention.
Thank you for listening to thepodcast.
I really appreciate it andtoday, as ever on these episodes
(00:20):
, I just want to share quicktips that I can hope can help
you to improve your remote worklife and, as ever, I also
request that you let me know ofany sort of tips that you use in
order to do just that.
So today we want to talk aboutlimiting distractions, to
(00:41):
improve focus and productivityand working from home especially
.
I work from home a lot.
There's lots of distractions.
There's lots of things thathave distracted me in the past.
There's lots of potentialdistractions that are there now
that can lead to a lack of focus, a lack of productivity and, as
(01:07):
a remote work, you have to bereally disciplined to avoid and
sort of reduce distractions,because there are so many and I
have a family.
I have three children.
In fact, two of my kids are athome, one is at university.
They're quite young, they'requite excitable, especially
(01:28):
during the periods of timeduring the holidays, so they are
a potential distraction.
That's obviously when you'rehome with your kids, the
temptation is to go and do stuffwith them, or you know if
they're arguing or fighting tosplit them up, or whatever it
may be.
As you work from home, as youwork remotely, you begin to put
(01:55):
things in place to mitigatethose distractions and you work
together with your family sothat they understand the
situation, especially if youhave kids that are old enough to
understand, which I amfortunate to have, although I
did go through periods of timewhen they didn't understand as
(02:15):
much.
But apart from the children notthe only distraction, of course,
there are other things like Idon't know, putting the washing
on or doing the washing up,hanging the washing out.
I'm sure there's things thatother people get distracted by
things on the TV, things on theradio, things on social media.
There's so many distractions,so many things that can distract
you.
But having said that, it's notremote workers are not the only
(02:39):
people that get distracted.
But if you are working fromhome, as I said, the
distractions are there.
But, as I said, to make it asuccess, you have to be
disciplined in order to do that.
And here are a few tips for youthat I've learned not just from
my own experiences, but fromother people who work remotely,
(03:00):
in order to limit distractions,to improve focus and
productivity.
So number one is you have toidentify what those distractions
are.
So early on I used to put awashing and hanging the washing
out.
It was well-intentioned and Ididn't necessarily see that as a
distraction, but it was adistraction.
It didn't need to be done atthat particular point.
(03:21):
So I identified that as adistraction for me and I said to
myself I was intentional aboutsaying I don't need to put that
on now, I can put it on later, Ican put it on a timer, et
cetera.
All those different things.
You have to take note of thecommon distractions.
Obviously, social media is oneof those things.
(03:43):
I don't really do social mediaa lot.
Even notifications on yourphone, that red dot that appears
when you get a new notificationon WhatsApp or on social media.
I completely switched that offduring the day because that was
a massive distraction for me.
Even though you're sort ofreplying to a one-minute message
or, sorry, replying to amessage for a minute or so, that
(04:07):
has a cumulative effect ifsomebody is messaging you
continuously through the day.
So things like social media,email and, as I said, even
household noise as well.
Me as a podcaster, there's lotsof noise around.
I've learned to accept.
Now I don't have a dedicatedstudio, so I've learned to
accept that when I come to myimprovised studio so let's talk
(04:29):
about that that there are goingto be noises around and I have
to just try to avoid thosedistractions and be disciplined
enough to sort of get mypodcasting work done, for
example, and not sort of besucked in and drawn into them.
So you need to create a plan tominimize their impact on your
work day.
So that's identifying thosedistractions.
(04:51):
Number two is finding adedicated workspace.
Even if you don't have anoffice as such, you need to find
a space that you dedicate toyour work.
It may be that you have morethan one space that's dedicated
to your work, but find thatspace.
And that space should becomfortable, it should be
functional, it should supportgood posture, it should be as
(05:11):
quiet as possible, it shouldreduce physical strain during
long work hours.
So that's number two dedicatedworkspace.
Number three set boundaries.
So communicating your workhours and availability with your
team, with your family.
This can help with transparencyand helps manage expectations.
It reduces interruptions and Ican testify to that.
(05:34):
It reduces interruptions duringyour focus time, which I'm
doing right now.
This is my focus time.
I'm focusing on producing thispodcast for you.
I've got my family here, I'vegot my wife, got my kids, so
I've set that boundary.
I've said to them listen, I'mrecording this podcast.
Now Please don't come in whileI'm doing that.
So that's number three.
(05:54):
Number four taking regularbreaks.
So incorporating breaks,regular breaks and a dedicated
lunchtime into the schedule.
Put your lunchtime into yourcalendar.
Share that with with the peoplein your household, if you're
working from home, or your team,if you're working on a team
basis, whether they're local orinternational.
This allows for mental rest andpromotes overall well-being
(06:16):
throughout the work day.
And number five on my listwellness rituals, which is
something that I've repeatedover and over again is
considering incorporatingwellness rituals into breaks
such as deep breathingmeditation.
Go for a quick walk to rechargeyour batteries.
So those are my five tips foryou to hopefully help you to
(06:39):
limit distractions and improvefocus and productivity in your
life If you're working on aremote basis, especially if
you're working from home.
What other tips can you suggest?
Please leave some suggestionsin the notes.
Please leave a review in thenotes as well and let me know
what you think of the podcast.
Please leave a review as wellIf you're enjoying these
(07:01):
episodes, and also pleaseconsider resharing this with
your network so that hopefullyit can reach as many people as
possible.
But all I'd say is until thenext time.
I wish you all the best andI'll see you on the next episode
.
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