Concentrate on the work at hand…I think it’s more difficult than ever to do with social media and cell phones at the center of our daily lives. I used to think that multi-tasking was one of my best skills (as a WAHM with 3 kids, it was a necessity!); but I’ve come to the realization that multi-tasking isn’t the best approach to concentrate on the major projects in my home office.
Training myself to concentrate only on the project in front of me and focusing exclusively on it for a set amount of time, is the key to moving forward in my business.
What has helped me concentrate on my major projects and be more productive?
1) Scheduling a dedicated time for major projects
If I’m working on a major project that requires 10 hours of my time this week, then I will schedule those 10 hours over several days: an hour here, 45 minutes there, whatever fits in my schedule…because I know I don’t have 10 hours of uninterrupted time available.
2) Scheduling my major project time to coincide with my “peak performance” time
If I do this, it usually means I can get the project done sooner than I planned. For example, I am at my best in the morning and my least-focused later in the evening, so I don’t schedule time for working on major projects at 9:00 pm. I’d rather work on a major project early in the morning then check email or set up automated posts at 9:00 pm, when I don’t need to be creative.
3) Turning off distractions
What are your biggest distractions in your home office? Mine are the internet/social media, phone calls and (evening) TV. So I let calls to go voicemail, keep the TV off or limit my time on social media when I am working on an important project.
For me, this means actually logging out of social media sites (like Facebook or Twitter)…it’s too tempting to take a “quick” peek at Twitter – and before you know it, you’ve lost 20 minutes!
4) Starting the day with a Power Hour (or 30 minutes, most days)
I’ve read that your first hour of the day sets the tone for the rest of day…so I am making more effort to start my day on the right foot. This usually means getting up a little earlier, exercising, reading positive affirmations or personal growth articles to start out in the right frame of mind.
Whatever your “power hour” includes, the purpose is to have a plan for starting the day rather than hitting the snooze button and stressing out because you are running late.
5) Taking enough breaks
Working from home sometimes means we never take a break from our business. And that isn’t good for us or the business. So I am “scheduling” break time into my work time: after spending dedicated time on a major project, I immediately take a break.
That means a physical break too – getting up from my desk, going into another room to make a phone call, going outside for 10 minutes…it’s quite entertaining for my cats, I’m sure, to watch me dance and sing around the house on my 10 minute break! But it works! I come back in a better frame of mind, ready to concentrate on the important tasks of the day.
So those are a few ideas I’ve used to help me better concentrate on major projects in my home office. Do you have any to add to the list? Feel free to share in comments!
Top photo courtesy of stockimages/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
