One of the challenges of working from a home office is overcoming periods of procrastination or lack of motivation. This challenge often arises upon returning to the office after attending an off-site networking event. Faced without immediate demands for your time by people or departments such as in external office environments, it can be difficult to retrack.
Furthermore, an external office has fewer non-work distractions, and being surrounded by people who are in work mode or rely on you to help them do their job, makes retracking much easier.
This truth led me to consider external office work environment situations when retracking can be also a challenge. For instance, returning to work after a long vacation to face a large, unpleasant or difficult project. Add to that, the tendency to want perfection on any project, invites procrastination, and if not checked, can lead to a debilitating pace.
More...
So how does one get back on track to the important work, ignore the urgent (and unimportant) and forgo distractions of emails, personal phone calls; and the luring effects of procrastination?
- 1First, determine the wildly important, and take steps to eliminate other distractions, such as turn off your email notification sound and hold all unimportant calls.
- 2Find a starting point. If the top priority is a big and intimidating project, break it down. Decide to complete one small step first, and allow a reasonable time frame such as one to two hours, after which you will take a break to refresh yourself.
- 3Create an incentive -reading break, friendly phone call, cup of java, whatever appeals to you. Pledge to stay within your time parameters & use a timer to keep you on track.
- 4Commend yourself on your incremental progress. There are good reasons for this, such as:
Being disciplined and maintaining focus is not as hard as we think.
Just remember progress begets progress, and success begets success. And find a way to begin.