One of the biggest pet peeves of people working in offices is the distractions they deal with each day. Working from home initially appears to be a solution for that problem. Once the telecommuter begins working from home, they realize they may face even more distractions than those they dealt with in the office.
Dealing with these distractions and learning how to eliminate them so that they do not interfere with work can be a challenge.
Telephone Calls
No matter who calls; telephone calls are probably the biggest problems faced by telecommuters. When it's your boss or co-worker calling, you need to determine why they are calling and, if they call too much, determine how to cut down on the calls. Tactfully explain that the phone calls are disrupting your work routine and ask if the issues (if there are any) can be dealt with on a once weekly basis. It may be a case of people calling just to see that you are working, and becomes a major distraction for telecommuters.Telemarketers:
Use an answering machine to screen calls. Let your employer know that you will be doing this first. Contact your local phone provider and learn how to get your phone number removed from phone lists.
Family & Friends:
This is the hardest groups of people to convince and deal with. You have to let them know that during certain hours of the day you are not available, but happy to talk with them when you are not working. If the message does not seem to get through, then call screening is the solution.
If you have a separate phone line that is used for company work, do not give out that number to anyone not related to work.
Email:
While email is handy and helps keep people connected, it can be a huge distraction if you are not careful. Set up different email accounts - one for work and one for family/friends to have.Joining too many email groups or lists.
The number of lists available to join is so tempting and sound like so much fun, until they start receiving the emails. Some groups will generate a high number of emails in one day, and taking the time to actually read all those emails will be time consuming and a huge distraction.
Use email filters:
Set up filters in your email program to sort and keep track of email.You can ignore emails that are not work related and not miss important emails.
Schedule checking email.
Set times that you will check email. Twice during the day will be adequate. Notify people onsite that if they sent or plan to send an important email to you, to call you first so that you do not miss a deadline or response time.
Don't Forget:
The most important point to remember about email is never use your work email account to forward chain letter type emails, no matter how cute or cool you think they might be. Leave those for your personal account, if you must forward them.
Television/Radio:
While having a tv or radio on in the background may help alleviate the isolation factor for telecommuters, they can become a distraction too difficult to get away from. It can become addictive to watch television. Initially it may make you feel a part of things and part of the world outside your home office, it is another distraction that prevents you from completing your work. It can also be very stressful watching too much of the news coverage because you will be focusing on that and not your work. If you pay more attention to the news, your work will suffer.Stick to scheduled times to watch television to keep you on track and prevent you from getting too distracted.
Television viewing also includes non-news programs. It is a myth and I'm sure we'd all like to keep it a myth that telecommuters are really just watching soap operas all day long. If there are programs you really enjoy and want to watch - use your VCR.
Distractions are present with any job, no matter where your job may be located. The important point is preventing distractions before they become a problem and make it difficult for you to succeed as a telecommuter.