… and what to do about it.

So this post took a lot longer to write than it could have because of a bunch of the things on this list.
Working from home seems like it would be easy… no one constantly bugging you like in an office, free to assign your time and energy to your tasks and projects as you so choose… freedom, even though you’re working…
Right?
Yes…
AND with all things, there’s the other side of the pristinely presented coin.

Working from home also comes with things that often become very serious attention magnets.

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#3 as evidenced as #1 for me.

Polling home-bound entrepreneurs and employees alike from Shankminds and BOB, below are what came out as the top 11 distractions when working from home (in no particular order, except that Facebook definitely stood out far and above all others as #1):
1. Facebook
2. Dog
3. Cat
4. YouTube
5. Kids
6. Family
7. Chores
8. Snacks
9. TV/Netflix
10. Notifications
11. Texting
As they say when kicking any addiction… awareness and acceptance is half the battle.
Take a look at how many of these suck your attention and by how much. Bring it to the top of your mind so that you can consciously start to decide on ways to bring your attention back to productive efforts. This will absolutely make you feel better and will boost your bottom line at the end of the day and long-term.
Make a plan… don’t shoot for perfect, cold-turkey rehab unless that’s what works for you.
Instead implement new simple boundaries at the start to protect yourself from yourself as you work to keep your focus in productive areas. Put your devices in airplane mode to give the internet the proverbial Heisman. Set a timer and don’t look at Facebook again til it digs. Use a Netflix show as a reward to completing a bigger task. Etc.

Gradual follow-through over time earns us new habits in how we assign our attention.

And in earning that, we can work in any environment with any cats, snacks, or internet access.
How do you stay focused?
Would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions in the comments below. I’ll write a future blog post bringing all that awesome together too!
Rock on, team. Thank you as always for reading!
xo
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