Working from home with distractions


Prior to the pandemic outbreak, I was working on and improving my scheduling skills so that I was better able to complete the tasks that I needed to complete each week. Originally, I had thought that the largest distraction would be the cats that I am currently living with. They come and go from my room as they please and occasionally pick fights amongst themselves. However, for the most part, I barely notice them which makes sense. Aside from the times that they are physically walking on me or making noise its almost like they aren’t even there. I have however noticed that I was largely underestimating how distracting my younger cousins would be.




Again, more than half the time I don’t notice them but much more often than with the cats, they make it hard to do work. While I knew they would be a distraction from previous weekends, I did not take into account the fact that they will also be home all day every day of the week. Add on top of that the fact that they will need to be taking part in their own remote instruction and having little outlet for their energy this leads to time periods of very unhappy kids. When they get fed up with being inactive or when they simply want to go play outside but can’t for one reason or another, they’ll make sure you know.




I’m also not really ever even interacting with them. I am in my room on the opposite side of the house while their parents take care of them. They are simply very vocal about what they do and do not like. I have developed some strategies for working around them, such as focusing on more important tasks while they are still asleep and using noise-canceling headphones when I need to work and they are being loud. However, I know that these strategies will not always work. For example, if they were my children, I couldn’t simply just let their parents take care of them because that would be my job. I need to find other methods to deal with distractions.




This leads to my question for this week is how do you deal with distractions? I know that when you have kids of your own you can’t just ignore them, but how do you around them? What methods have you found that works the best?

Comments

  1. Katie RanckApril 13, 2020 at 5:40 AM

    Hi Abbie, I do not have many distractions right now as I do not have kids and my husband is in an essential business. With waking up and looking at the day ahead of me with the many hours I feel I have, productivity is my goal. I want to utilize my work time well and not just sit and give 10 hours a day to it. I have found doing my morning routine and working through lunch is my most productive time right now. This has resulted in enjoying the nice weather in the afternoon. What are you doing to decrease distractions and increase productivity?

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