Zoomed out? How to disconnect and take a break!

by Karen Adamedes

I don’t know about you but I am all zoomed out. Teams-ed out and completely over any kind of video conferencing.

What a year it has been!

Don’t get me wrong, I am incredibly grateful to have been able to work through the year. And to have the technology that works (most of the time) to enable me to do so.

But now is the time to take a break. For many of us the festive season is a great opportunity to take some time off and not spend your days viewing the world through a screen.

My tip is if you can, take a break.

And to help you disconnect:

  1. Delegate to someone you trust – and then let them run with it (don’t be checking in on them)
  2. Put on an Out Of Office message – so that others know who to contact instead of you
  3. Enjoy your time off!

Taking time will help you recharge, reenergize and hopefully relax!

Karen

P.S. And in the spirit of obvious promotion – if you are looking for some holiday reading that does not involve a screen Professional in Pajamas paperback edition is available for a limited time for $15.00 with free shipping in Australia. 🙂 You can get your copy here (Signing and packing books will give me something to do that doesn’t involve a screen)

How to minimize background noise when working from home

Man with Leaf blower

There are all sorts of background noises to contend with when you work at home

Whether you are on a video call, a teleconference, or just a plain old telephone call you want to minimize background noise. If you’ve got something to say you want to be heard, and you don’t want to have to ask people to repeat themselves. Likewise, you don’t want any unexpected or irritating distractions interfering with your call.

You may not be able to plan for every contingency, such as the neighbor starting up their lawn mower or leaf blower when you are in the middle of an earnest discussion, but you can do a few things to minimize background noise:

• Let other people in your household know that you are about to make a call (that is, ask them to be quiet!).

• Turn off any sources of noise – music, TV…

• Put your phone on silent.

• Turn off the volume on your laptop so others don’t hear your email alerts or another call coming in.

• Make sure your furry friends are happy and not likely to disturb you mid-call.

• Use a good headset so that there is no white noise or echoing. There are headsets available that include noise-cancelling microphones.

• Close doors or windows that might let in outside noise.

• Use the mute button when you are not talking.

• Move to another location.

• Make sure your fan or heating is not generating too much noise – you may want to turn them down or off for the duration of a call.

• Schedule your calls at times you know will be quieter.

And, like most other things in life, there are apps that can help with noise cancellation. Be conscious of your environment and the noises that could be amplified or unwelcome on a call.

Minimizing these background noises will avoid distractions and help make your conference calls as beneficial as possible.

Have a peaceful day,

Karen

This tip is based on Tip 52 ‘Minimize Background Noise‘ from Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home.

Simple strategies to avoid distractions

Note to avoid distractions

by Karen Adamedes

It’s not always easy to avoid distractions when you are trying to work. There are plenty of them about. Regardless of where you are working.

They eat into your productivity and often result in needing to work longer hours. Ever get to the end of the day and wonder where the hours have gone?

The phone, whether it rings or not, can be a major distraction. A 2018 Deloitte survey found that Americans check their phone on average 52 times a day. A study in Britain showed that they check their phones every 12 minutes, every day. So you don’t even need the phone to ring to lose your concentration at work. We all keep picking it up to look at and distracting ourselves.

Then there are the email alerts, meetings, social media, and the times the phone actually rings. All distractions that workers of the world, regardless of where they are located, are dealing with. Every interruption breaks your concentration and disrupts your productivity.

When you work from home there are a few other additional distractions that might keep you from your work. You may have other people at home while you are working, the temptation of the TV, the allure of the fridge, the household chores calling your name, and deliveries arriving at the front door. The opportunities to be interrupted when you work from home can be plentiful.

How some people keep on track

Laura McLoughlin works from her home in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and deals with distractions by locking herself away in her office. She says, “That way, I don’t think about the washing in the clothes basket in the bedroom, or the marks on the mirror in the bathroom. It also helps me get in the right mindset for work, as opposed to sitting elsewhere in the house, which I associate more with relaxing or having time off.”

When comparing working from an office or home, Laura says she finds working from home much more distracting, “In an office, you are accountable to those around you, but at home, you answer to yourself and yourself isn’t always the best boss. Plus, you can actually see all the housework you’ve left undone and it can niggle at you if you don’t shut yourself away from it for the day.”

Sarah who works in the recruitment industry in Sydney, Australia, finds that unless she is super busy it can be easy to be distracted. She deals with this by just pushing herself to work through her to-do list. She advocates focus and balance, particularly when it comes to household chores. “Try to find a balance that works for you,” she says.

Work out what’s distracting you

If you aren’t getting through the amount of work that you want or need to do, spend some time working out what is distracting you.

Is there a pattern?

There might be one main culprit or a number of distractions. Once you work out the source, you can work out what to do about it.

Simple Strategies

Here’s a few examples that might be causing you some grief and some simple strategies that might help:

  • The phone ringing constantly and interrupting your work – put it on silent or Do Not Disturb. Even if its just for a short time while you get something important finished.
  • Emails bombarding your inbox and being a major distraction every time you see a new one arrive – turn off the notification setting and only check them a couple of times a day.
  • You keep checking social media or news sites (it can be addictive) – try limiting your time to when you are taking your breaks.
  • Friends calling or popping in because they know you are home – spend a few minutes with them but politely let them know you need to get back to work.
  • People you live with are noisy or keep disturbing you – have a discussion with them and agree how you are going to work and live under the one roof. (There are some extra tips about this in the blog Agree boundaries with your household.)
  • Household chores are waiting for you – manage your expectations about how much you can do when you are working and restrict yourself to tasks you can do when you are having a break.

Think about what might be distracting you and disrupting your productivity.

You may not be able to completely avoid them. But if you are aware of what interruptions are impacting your work then you can do something about them.

It’s much nicer to have a well earned break during the day or finish early, than to have your time eaten away by distractions you don’t need.

Stay focused and enjoy your down time!

 

 

 

 

This tip is based on Tip 7 ‘Avoid Distractions‘ from Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home.

Eat lunch away from your desk

Lunch away from your desk

by Karen Adamedes

There may be no one at the next desk to be envious of (or complain) about the aroma of your lunch, or any health risks associated with the germs that might be on a shared keyboard… but that doesn’t mean you should eat lunch at your desk when you work from home. (This also applies to breakfast and dinner as well!).

Avoid the crumbs

I’m the first to admit that I have eaten lunch at my desk more times than I should have. The reasons are always the same: no break between meetings; a never-ending inbox of emails; a constantly ringing phone; and, probably the worst reason of all, so I can spend my ‘break’ on social media.

I’m not the only one, right?

I’ve had plenty of crumbs and spilt coffees in the keyboard. And if I’m honest I’ve probably had to spend more time cleaning it than I’ve saved through the multi-tasking of working and munching at the same time.

Lunch is an ideal time for a break

Meal times are a chance to have a mental break, move, grab some rays of sunshine, and focus on what you are going to eat.

It’s also an opportunity to leave the house and interact with some human beings face to face.

The great thing about working from home is you can schedule your breaks at a time to suit you. Unless you have meetings you just can’t avoid, you can decide to have your lunch break in the middle of the morning or late in the afternoon; whatever works for you.

Plan when you are going to take your lunch break, and make sure you include that time in your schedule. Every day.

Even a short break – say, a visit to the kitchen to grab some food, then eating it at the dining-room table – ticks a lot of boxes. It gives your eyes a rest, gets you moving, and provides you with a break to refresh or contemplate your priorities. (Double points if you go outside and get some fresh air and steps at the same time!)

Choices. Choices!

What and where you eat lunch are up to you. Just not at your desk!

Make something yummy for dinner and have the leftovers for lunch the next day whilst you sit in the garden.

Pop out to your favorite coffee shop.

Prepare something fresh and delicious as part of your break.

Arrange to meet a friend or a colleague for a break and a snack.

All of a sudden, breaking for lunch goes from being an irritating interruption to something you can really look forward to.

It takes discipline to tear yourself away from whatever urgent thing you have to work on and lunch away from your desk – but it is a good use of your time.

Enjoy your lunch break – whatever you do!

 

 

 

 

This tip is based on Tip 87 ‘Lunch away from your desk‘ from Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home.