How To Overcome Distractions

This is a tough process. I think for everyone. If you get a lot of distractions to your day, it’s hard to stay focused and be productive. Getting things accomplished at work when someone is always coming into your office space, or interrupting your focus, getting back to busy can take your brain time to reconfigure.
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If it becomes a habit, you will probably figure it out. Because you have to and because you just get used to working in a busy environment. You adjust and get back to it faster and you just start to tune out the annoyances.

But, when you aren’t used to that. And, your job requires a lot of focus, what do you do?

My story starts from home. I run my writing and content creation business from home. This career and business requires me to write a lot and generally tune out from the world and really live with my head in the computer. And, in the work itself. If I am interrupted I need to refocus on the interruption and then back again doing the same to return to the job at hand. Back and forth, back and forth. So, let's talk about how to overcome distractions.

How To Overcome Distractions

Temporary interruptions can come in many forms. We don’t have any kids at home, but we used to live in a busy neighborhood. So, every time someone would walk by or drive by the window in my office my dog would raze the roof. Barking. Running around. If you’re a dog person you’ve been there. It was a crazy busy neighborhood and we lived 2 houses from the entrance to the neighborhood. At one point I counted 6 cars or trucks coming or going in a 60-second increment. 

Moving to the country certainly helped with this. Far fewer delivery trucks or people on our much quieter road. I would absolutely recommend this type of living. It is farther from civilization. That’s both good and bad. But, if you want it quiet with few interruptions, this is a good option.
 
So, the doggo is definitely not making as much of a ruckus as before. This has greatly helped me avoid periodic disruptions. (Closing the office door didn’t do much)

But, he still barks once in a while during the day and that can cause a break in my concentration. It doesn’t happen often, but I am used to it. 

Today and tomorrow, we will have a large, but temporary interruption in our day. We are having workers at the house. I needed to leave my office space and work in the kitchen to make room for them. No big deal. Then there is hammering, loud tools going off at random times, and people walking past intermittently but frequently, not to mention questions they ask me throughout the day. 

It’s not easy to get anything accomplished like this. But, I really need to and I really want to.

So, I am not used to this type of interruption in my day. If I worked at a construction site I would get used to the noise and visual disturbances and they would fall into the background. But, this is an unusual occurrence and I am struggling to accomplish anything. With the constant interruptions and lack of business supplies that I left in my office I am wondering how to fill my day productively. 

Here are 3 thoughts to get through a temporarily distracted day:

1. I did a little client work early and now I’m thinking maybe some organization work that I keep putting off will be easy enough to accomplish while working in a loud environment.
   
   
2. Maybe some computer and file tidying could be the best option for this type of work environment. This has been a good time to write this article about the situation.
   
   
3. After I do some of this organizing and clean-up. Maybe I will have gotten more used to the disarray and I can focus and concentrate again. Or maybe I have to think “it will be over soon and after 2 days, the work will be done and I can get back to it. I might just have to consider these admin days and put in a little catch-up time this weekend”.
   
   

LOL — it’s also hot outside and the doors are open. Oh, and now the phone is ringing.

Have any tips for home office interruptions and how to get anything accomplished when life is a mess — even if it’s just temporary?

Hope you have a wonderful and productive day!