• Focus. Last week, I talked about minimizing distractions, which is a good first step toward giving yourself the space to focus on what you really need to accomplish. Having the willpower to focus and achieve a real state of flow helps you can accomplish a large amount of work in a shorter amount of time. So turn off all of those distractions, avoid multitasking and focus on the work that is important to you.
• Importance. Not all activities are created equal, but most of us struggle to balance the urgent work with the important work. We need to think about how we spend our time and the impact of what we do over the long term. Email is a good example of this concept: most people consider email to be urgent, and some of it is urgent, but most of it is not important. I could easily spend all day on email, but I’d rather accomplish something real and tangible. In a year, will it really matter than you responded to all of your email immediately or would you rather be known for doing something really amazing and interesting?
• Love your work. I think a lot of people misunderstand this idea. Unless you are in a really unique position, most of us have a love/hate relationship with our work. There are things that we love doing, but we also have those tedious or unpleasant tasks that come with every job. The big question is: Where do you focus? Do you focus or dwell on the unpleasant parts of your work or do you get those unpleasant tasks out of the way so that you can focus on what you enjoy? If you spend all of your energy thinking about the things that you hate about your job, you’ll never be happy in your work. Find the things that you love about your job and focus your energy on thinking about the good, rather than dwelling on the unpleasant. Loving your job is all about having the right attitude about your work.
• Live. While loving your work is important, most of us work as way to support the rest of our lives. Workaholic tendencies are common among web workers, so we need to take the time to remind ourselves to take some time away from work to really live our lives. This one is hard for me, but I’m making a big effort this year to take advantage of business travel to see more of the world by combining vacation with trips to visit places I’ve never been. I’m also making more time to meet new people and spend time with family and friends away from our computers to have good food, great conversation and human interactions. Doing something new and learning from it can give you a whole new perspective on a work problem when you least expect it. Even a short vacation or an evening with new friends can help improve your mood and help you feel refreshed and ready to tackle your work with a new outlook.
• Fitness. So many of my friends ignore their health, leaving them drained of energy and lethargic. Getting outside or to the gym to get your blood pumping can make a huge difference in your energy levels and mood. The more social among us can find group activities that can be done in pairs or groups, or you can use your fitness time as a way to spend some time alone. I tend to run in the summer and lift weights in the winter, but I have friends who walk, bike, go hiking, play sports, do martial arts or yoga and so much more. The key is to find something you enjoy doing to improve your fitness. Those endorphins can make a big difference in your productivity.

While tips and tricks to improve productivity are great, the real key to better long-term productivity is in your attitude and how you think about your work.

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Timers, alarms and stopwatches

Sometimes, all we need is a little added motivation, like an egg timer or alarm, to challenge us to remain focused and get to the finish line. If that’s the case for you, a simple online alarm clock or timer can help boost productivity.

• Naked Alarm Clock. A simple and free online alarm clock, Naked Alarm Clock makes it easy to lose yourself in the task at hand without worrying that you’ll miss your next appointment.

• Your Meditation Timer. If you get annoyed with more-traditional-sounding alarms, a meditation timer might be music to your ears. A soft gong or Tibetan bell can let you know it’s time to change tasks.

• Online Stopwatch. For every type of timer imaginable, look no further than this Online Stopwatch.

Pomodoro timers/trackers

The Pomodoro Technique involves breaking work up into timed 25-minute chunks (known as pomodoros), separated by short breaks to help improve concentration. There are several apps based on the idea.

• Focus Booster. This app helps eliminate the anxiety of time and enhances your focus using the Pomodoro Techinique.

• Pomodoro (Mac only). Another Pomodoro supporter, this app helps you to avoid procrastination and get things done.

Time monitoring/tracking

For the analytical among us, more-detailed automated time tracking and monitoring may do the trick for increasing productive time online.

• RescueTime. This tool lets you track your Internet usage while also allowing you to voluntarily block distracting websites.

• TrackTime. This app allows you to track the time you spend on projects, as well as your web-browsing habits.

Time-out/break reminders

Sometimes the problem with getting things done isn’t our lack of effort but rather constantly overextending ourselves. This is where a forced break or time-out can help.

• Time Out (Mac only). Time Out gently reminds you to take breaks on a regular basis.

• SmartBreak (Windows only). SmartBreak also reminds you to take breaks when working on your computer for long hours.

Website-blocking tools

For many of us, the Internet is filled with tempting distractions that keep us from the task at hand, which is where website-blocking tools come in handy.

• StayFocusd (Chrome extension). This productivity extension for Google Chrome restricts the amount of time you can spend on time-wasting websites.

• Anti-Social (Mac only). Anti-Social keeps you focused by turning off the “social parts” of the Internet, such as Facebook, Twitter and any other sites you specify.

• Freedom. This app locks you away from the Internet for up to eight hours at a time.

• SelfControl (Mac only). SelfControl blocks email and websites for a predetermined period of time.

Concentration/work environments

For those of us who need complete isolation in order to get focused, there are certain tools that hone in on a single task until the job is done.

• FocusWriter. FocusWriter provides a simple, distraction-free writing environment.

• Think (Mac only). This tool limits your attention to one application at any time to keep you from getting distracted.

• Quiet (Mac only). Quiet allows you to focus on a single window while simultaneously fading out others.

• Haze Over (Mac only). This app helps you stay focused on your main window by dimming inactive windows.

• Concentrate (Mac only). Perhaps the most robust of all the apps, Concentrate allows you to create “activities” (for example: design, study, write) with customized actions that run every time you concentrate on a given task.

• Isolator. This tool helps you concentrate by covering up your desktop, its icons and the windows of other applications.

While the Internet has its advantages when it comes to work, it can also be a distraction. But with the right app to help maintain concentration and focus, it’s a lot easier to stay on track and get things done.

What are your favorite focus-boosting apps and tools?

Photo courtesy Flickr user BY-YOUR-⌘

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Here is a breakdown of how to use Quora, Focus and Namesake to enhance your professional reputation.

Quora

I recently wrote about using Quora for getting answers to business-related questions. While I think the quality of conversation on Quora can be good, sometimes you feel like you are posting a question into a big, black hole. Still, with the amount of buzz happening around the site, getting in now to “stake your claim” in your areas of expertise isn’t a bad idea.

When starting to use Quora as a reputation-builder, make sure to fill out your profile information thoroughly, including the sections on the site where you can include your “bio” for various topics. Even if you aren’t ready to spend time answering questions, you want to make sure your expertise is showcased concisely, otherwise people will arrive at your Quora profile page and have no idea who you are or what you do. Keep the length down and make sure the first handful of words convey something meaningful because this is what others will see when you answer questions in a given topic area.

To get more out of Quora, follow the topics that you believe you can contribute meaningfully to. Respond to questions when you have a specific point of view or expertise that hasn’t yet been demonstrated. Follow the people with whom you are truly interested in getting on their radar, learning from, or interacting with.

Quora has a section in your profile where you can post content. This can be a good place to re-purpose some of your relevant content and tagging it with specific topic keywords to add your two cents without specifically answering a question. You can also answer a question and link to your content elsewhere, although do this sparingly as this can appear gratuitous if you simply use Quora to point people to your blog or site. Don’t think of Quora as a “gateway” to your other presences, like your blog, but instead think of it as an opportunity to provide a snapshot of who you are and what you do on a site where people are paying attention.

Because of Quora’s breadth of topics, you can choose almost any area and set of topics to show what you know. However, the most active areas are the tech, new and social media, and mobile spaces.

Focus

If your expertise is useful to small business owners, you may want to head over to Focus. This site has been around a few years now and while Quora came out of beta with a bang, Focus has been building a rich database of information and experts a little under the radar and now boasts over a million active users. While Quora tackles a broad range of topics, Focus looks to help business owners make better decisions, so expect to find more business topics and technology topics related to business.

On Focus, Q&A is only one of the site’s features. Think of it as an expert network or “expert market” where business owners can not only get answers to their questions but download published research and attend live teleconference events.

As you fill out your Focus profile, you can opt to check a box to apply to become an official “expert” on the site, but there is no guarantee you’ll be chosen. Focus takes a careful look at several criteria to assess if you are actually an expert in your field and if you have a proclivity for sharing your knowledge with others in a longer format such as on a blog versus Twitter. They also look at your interactions and the retweets your content generates to see if what you write resonates with your community of followers.

If interested in having you as an official expert on their site, Focus will conduct a phone interview. Some experts providing long form research are compensated but not those solely participating in the community Q&A. Otherwise, you can contribute to the Q&A section in basically the same way you might on Quora. The site is constantly undergoing incremental changes to improve how it works, so expect to see better integration of features over time.

Namesake

Namesake calls itself a “community for real conversation.” Namesake takes a more “live” approach to conversations on topics, with announcements of conversations happening on the site, and the people participating and watching.. The conversations are then archived and can be added to over time.

There is a little more chaos on Namesake compared to Quora or Focus.com; every response isn’t carefully composed and the best aren’t always “endorsed” or voted up to the top. These are “conversations” after all. Namesake groups people, conversations and experts by topic, so like Quora and Focus, you should follow the topics that are most interesting and relevant to you, to find experts and to identify conversations where you can be an expert.

The site claims experts in broad topic areas, from technology to entertainment to politics. You can claim your areas of expertise (up to 10) when you are filling out your bio, but you gain expert credibility and status through endorsements from others for your conversation contributions. A nice feature on your Namesake bio is the ability to add video to showcase who you are and what you know.

Whereas Quora might feel like a place for tech insiders, and Focus is more business-oriented and straightforward, Namesake has a scrappier feel where tech hipsters are jumping into a sandbox to play and experiment.

Tips for Q&A Site Success

As you can see, all of these sites have Q&A as a feature, but Quora emphasizes this aspect the most. Regardless of which site you choose as your platform for showcasing your expertise, know that the process can be time-consuming (and possibly addicting). Here are a few tips for making the most of your efforts:

1. Pick one site. Be great. While you might dabble in all three sites to get a feel for them and to make sure they offer you the best audience for your information, to get more out of a Q&A site, you really need to pick one where you’ll spend most of your time and energy. Be thoughtful, and take care to get a feel for the community and learn the etiquette of the site. Be helpful.
2. Incorporate the site into your content production. If you’re already blogging and tweeting, participating actively in a Q&A site can feel like a burden. Look for ways to incorporate a little time each day on the Q&A site of your choice so you can be present, pay attention and add value. Over the long haul, you’ll find it easier and easier to make the time to contribute, but don’t get carried away and let it dominate your time unless it is proving to be a fruitful outlet.
3. Add to your content sharing. When you blog, find an appropriate way to share that in your profile or in an answer or as a post or update on a Q&A site. Make sure not to use the Q&A site as nothing more than a gateway or traffic driver to your blog or site, but do think of it as an additional place to archive examples of your work.
4. Go narrow, not broad. You can’t be all things to all people. You can’t be a true “expert” in many, many things. Part of building your reputation is knowing who you are, what you can offer others, and then focusing on providing consistent, valuable information. Sure, you can provide the occasional answer to a random topic (for example, I’ve responded to questions about RVing and parenting on Quora) because this shows you’re human and multidimensional. But when building your reputation and your brand, consistency is key.

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When there’s so much vying for our attention and especially when we’re feeling more than a little burned out with our current efforts, a little “stick-to-itiveness” can go a long way. Here are a few ideas for developing the trait.

1. Allow yourself the occasional slip. There will be times when you simply don’t have the motivation or inspiration needed to stay on track and moving forward with your vision. On those days, it can be hard to break away from email, blog feeds and social networks long enough to make any kind of progress with your business, but an occasional slip doesn’t have to mean total failure. Make a resolution to get back on track tomorrow. In the long run, the occasional off day won’t be what determines whether you make it or break it, but rather the overall consistency that you manage over time.
2. Find ways to encourage patience and consistency. For a lot of business owners, it’s hard not to chase after every new opportunity that comes along. Whether we’re talking about new marketing tactics or altogether different business ventures, “entrepreneurial attention deficit disorder” is common for many a small business owner. Finding creative ways to encourage patience and consistency can keep E.A.D.D. at bay, while helping you keep your current efforts on track toward success. One solution is to consider starting side projects that build up over time and that won’t distract you from your main goals. Having several ventures or ideas at varying stages of development can keep your interest levels up, while allowing you to move your attention to and from projects as demand and priorities change.
3. Create “built-in” backup. One of the best ways to keep projects moving forward, while allowing you to focus on those areas of your business that most interest you, is to build in reinforcement through a team. By having more than one person concentrating on the key responsibilities within your company, you can feel confident knowing that the most important jobs are getting done, even if you’re not the person doing them. One tip is to use a “divide and conquer” mentality to separate your core responsibilities into chunks that can be outsourced, one at a time. As new responsibilities come into view, you can either create new roles or see if they fit within those already created.
4. Take a break. Often those feelings that show themselves outwardly are only symptoms of an underlying problem, and treating them will only mask or temporarily relieve them. If you’re feeling distracted or overwhelmed, there’s a good chance that you could simply be overworked. Don’t feel guilty about taking some much-needed R&R. By having some time completely away from the business, you might find that you’re able to regain your focus and motivation without having to make changes in projects or commitments.

So many great business ideas go by the wayside simply because the people behind them burn out and give up too quickly for the ideas to take hold. Developing a few insurances to help you stick with your plans and maintain consistency might be all you need to see your big idea to success.

What tactics have you found for increasing “stick-to-itiveness”?

Photo courtesy Flickr user mccun934

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The reason we manage to stay focused during those tasks is that they require us to remain present in order to guarantee success. That ability to stay in the moment also produces the side effect of satisfaction. Our happiness is never higher than when we have our mind on what we’re doing. That’s a good lesson for web workers.

Job satisfaction, looked at from the perspective of this study, has a lot to do with focus. And for people who work from home, that’s probably not great news. If you’re a remote employee, you generally have unfettered access to the Internet, which means you also have about a million things vying for your attention. You’re probably adept at multitasking, but that same ability to split your focus could lead to unhappiness, which would also lead to burnout.

Maintaining focus is easier said then done, however. So how best to keep your mind on one task? Break that task down to make it easier to identify what’s required to do a truly great job. The difference between really exceeding in the task, and just doing a “good enough” job, is all about attention. If every time you set out to do a task, you set higher standards for yourself than you did last time, you’ll have an easier time maintaining focus and avoiding a wandering mind.

You should also avoid compulsively checking your email, and turn off those audio notifications for new mail. It might be hard to do, depending on what kind of work you do, but even if you can manage to avoid the email crush for a few hours a day, that period of unbroken focus should help improve the quality of your day by quite a bit. Having email “quiet time,” or, even better, keeping specific times during which you open your email app, should make for better email communication, too, since you’ll be more focused on those conversations.

Focus isn’t easy to achieve, especially with so much potential for distraction at hand, but as a remote web worker you have certain advantages over traditional workers. You won’t be as distracted by coworkers, for instance. Also, you have more freedom to set your own schedule, so you can plan attention-heavy tasks for times when you’re less likely to be tired and more prone to distraction.

Even if your task is undesirable, focusing on it to the exclusion of all else will provide a greater sense of satisfaction, and should help you feel happier in your job. It won’t be easy, and work is one of the places your mind is most likely to wander, but if you’re aware and take an active hand in keeping present and in the moment, you’ll have a much better chance of getting things done.

What methods do you use to help you maintain your focus?

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That decision actually inspired Ars.Technica to hold its own ADAs (Ars Design Awards) celebrating Mac OS developers and their work in the past 12 months. Developers gave their opinions on TUAW.com and this quote from Justin Williams of Second Gear Software gave his opinion:

“Whether it’s intentional or not, Apple is saying that the Mac is not an important platform compared to the iPhone and iPad. With great Mac-only software still being released by many top notch companies, I find it hard to believe that they couldn’t find it in the budget to generate a few more of those glowing ADA awards.”

Of course, this is all old news. iPhone 4 is out, iPad is still getting great new apps and Snow Leopard will only be a year old this August. Most of the developers who gave their thoughts on WWDC’s lack of Mac specific tracks stated that Leopard shipped in 2007, Snow Leopard shipped in 2009 and that’s three years of tracks dedicated to a largely unchanged operating system and it’ll just be more of the same from Apple if you do attend those sessions. Besides, iPad is new, iOS 4 is hot and Apple should do everyone a favor by devoting more resources to it. I agree.

But, there’s the argument that I still want to make. The iPhone was released in 2007 running iOS 1.0 and now, in 2010 we receive our fourth huge update to iOS where Apple’s Leopard and Snow Leopard are largely unchanged from a feature perspective and only maintain system improvements, speed enhancements and other changes. Snow Leopard was a welcome update and priced appropriately at $29 but I’m still using the same features in Dashboard, Spaces and Finder that I was in 2007, and that irks me a bit.

[inline-ad]When I sounded off on Twitter about this, the replies were all over the place. Most notably, people were saying that Apple has to compete in mobile and the competition (Google, Nokia, Palm) hasn’t stopped innovating just so Apple can update its Mac OS with new features. Apple had to be happy with its desktop OS as is, maintain it and focus on mobile in order to maintain its competitive advantage and continue innovating beyond competition and it shows. Apple is the most profitable mobile company in the world, but why did it have to do one or the other?

Steve said at the D8 conference a few weeks ago that Apple is the largest startup in the world, and we all know that Apple keeps teams small so innovation moves quickly and Apple maintains huge profitability with very low R&D costs compared to competitors. For that, shareholders must be proud and the big picture shows that Apple is doing a great job. Mac sales are still booming and Mac OS is still ahead of the competition, but that doesn’t mean Mac users don’t feel a little left out by Apple’s choice to dedicate more resources to mobile.

My second point is Apple doesn’t have to act like a startup. Keeping teams small and focusing all of the best talent (which, according to Jobs is everyone at Apple) on a single product at a time is working for them but there are thousands of qualified people in the world who could do great things for Apple and help them simultaneously change the world both in desktop and in mobile without either product suffering. Even in 2007, Apple delayed Leopard’s release because it was busy getting iPhone out the door.

My fear is that Apple will continue to spend all of its time and money on what’s hot right now. Those of us who were Mac users before the Intel switch and before the iPod know that Apple runs like a startup and thus what’s not hot will suffer while it promotes and innovates in one area. iPod was the highlight of the majority of Apple events starting in 2004 and now the iPhone and other iOS devices get Apple’s love but we have to ask, “where would Mac OS be if the iPod and iOS were never made?” Well, part of us knows that Apple wouldn’t be at the size it is today without those products but we also know that the Mac OS could be light years ahead of where it is now if Apple only focused its resources on it.

All we can do as the Mac faithful is trust that Apple will make the right choices and not let us down. We might be the most vocal bunch of Apple customers but we’re also the most loyal. We stuck with Apple through the dark years, through the OS X switch and the Intel switch and we’ll stick with Apple while it spends 90 percent of its time head first on the iPhone. I just hope this “phase” doesn’t last forever. I want a new Mac OS and more breathtaking Mac OS computers.

As I’m watching all of these events — mostly via streaming — I’m struck by one thing in particular: The athletes represent the consummate niche professional. They do one thing (or sometimes two or three, but all under the same basic umbrella) and they do it very, very well.

In the past, I’ve written about the importance of being a jack of all trades as a web worker. That remains a good strategy for weathering the storm of economic uncertainty, but in more stable times a specialist will always be paid more than a generalist, and likely have more opportunities at hand, too. At least in some parts of the world, signs of recovery are good, so it follows that now is a good time to look to the example of the Olympian for inspiration.

The key to Olympic success is choosing your sport and focusing on it to the exclusion of almost all else while in training. Depending on the sport, that focus doesn’t necessarily need to be a lifelong aspiration, but while an athlete is training for it, they go all in. No half-measures are involved in competing an an international level. The same is true for the best and brightest web professionals. Take Toronto-based social media expert Scott Stratten, for example. I’ve never come across anyone with quite the same degree of tunnel vision regarding their career and specific niche.

The major differences between a web professional and an Olympic athlete (besides, most likely, level of fitness) are two-fold: First, you likely don’t have a dedicated coach or coaches. Second, the line between training and event is never as distinct for web workers as it is for competitive athletes.

A lack of coaching means that you have to emphasize praxis, meaning you have to observe and take into account both the theory and practice sides of your work. Athletes do this too, but they can focus on the doing while the coach emphasizes the thinking, reflection and analysis that leads to improvement. The best way to go about this is to keep detailed records and work logs. Improving how you work is just as important as improving your product; the two are inseparably tied.

As for the training/performance distinction, this is actually an advantage web working specialists have, depending on how you feel about pressure. Every time you get to flex your muscles, you’re probably doing so in exchange for pay. It’s a good idea to practice when you can with unpaid work that won’t necessarily by seen, or with pro bono work for charitable organizations, but by and large your training will take place on the fly. To simulate the effect of training for a major event, rank your upcoming projects and engagements when possible and treat the smaller ones as lead-up to the big ones. This should help you excel when your work is garnering the most attention.

Unlike Olympic athletes, you might not get a chance at the podium, but you will get a chance at being recognized as among the best in your field. Especially as companies begin to have more money for highly focused projects, sharpening your focus and being the best at your niche could play huge dividends.

Are you a generalist or a specialist?

We are all distracted by different things. Some people who work at home are distracted by household chores, TV, food or other personal distractions. For some reason, the personal chores around the house aren’t really a distraction for me, but I have plenty of distractions of my own. My significant other also freelances and works at home, and he can be a distraction if I forget to shut my office door or decide to work from some other area in the house. I’m also distracted by side projects, Twitter and other tasks that are slightly work related, but non-revenue generating. It’s amazing how much time these social media tools and other websites can consume without realizing it. I’ll occasionally follow a link from Twitter or my RSS reader for what I think will be a quick read, but before I know it I’ve been sucked into reading something interesting and 30 minutes will have passed.

Recently, I realized that I was getting distracted and spending too much time in an unlikely area: my task list. Wait, aren’t task lists a good thing to spend time on? Yes, to a point. However, I realized that I was spending way too much time re-reading my task list to decide which task to tackle next. It isn’t unusual for me to have 10-20 items that I would like to finish, and those items vary in priority and urgency.  Every time I completed a task, I had to go back to my task list to pick my next task. I decided that this was an inefficient use of my time to do this after every task. I still work in chunks and schedule my time, but I’m getting more organized about how often I go back to my task list.

The Next 3 Things

I now have a little document that I keep open called “The Next 3 Things.” Starting in the morning, I look at my task list to pick the next three things that I need to work on, and I add them to the document. I don’t go back to my task list until those three things are finished. When I finish a grouping of three things, I go back to my task list to pick the next three things.

I combine it with working in chunks by combining items that span several tasks in my task list into a single item in my “Next 3 Things” list. For example, four individual tasks for the same client will probably be grouped into a single item in my next 3 things list to work in a chunk of time focused on that client. I also cheat sometimes by adding a section at the bottom for tasks that I want to do at a particular time. For example, I might want to write a specific blog post while I eat lunch or go to the bank before it closes to deposit checks.

This is just one technique for prioritizing your work to stay focused on the right tasks while avoiding distractions, but it has been working for me.

What are your tips for staying focused and avoiding distractions?

Photo by Flickr user Martin Kingsley used under Creative Commons.

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1. Turn off automatic email check: Do you have your email app pop up or ping whenever a new message comes in? Turn it off. Most of us can’t resist checking email.
2. Close or minimize your email app: Whether you use Gmail or Outlook, close or minimize the app so you stop looking at it. I use Thunderbird and Gmail. As I write this, my browser sits in the task bar so I don’t keep looking at the second monitor to check for new messages. That little step of kicking the email app to the task bar works for me.
3. Close or minimize your browser: You may not use a web-based email app or keep it open all the time. But having the browser open when you don’t need it can turn it into a distraction. Seeing the browser, your eyes can’t help but look at whatever web site the browser has open for you. Again, send it off to the task bar or close it. A blank page can still act like a temptress.
4. Download a different browser: If you use Firefox for all your browsing needs, download Opera, Google Chrome or other browser to use as a “research browser”. Using a secondary browser will cut the temptation to visit your favorite sites since you won’t have bookmarks or saved passwords. Avoid using bookmarks and saved passwords in the secondary browser.
5. Install fun apps on a different computer: Most of us have more than one computer. Since I do game reviews, I install all games on my laptop rather than my desktop. Even though playing games is part of my job, it can take over my other work. With the laptop in another room, I’m not tempted to play even the most addicting ones.
6. Use a timer: If you can’t work for 10 minutes free of distractions, set the timer for 10 minutes and work on the task until it dings. Up it to 15 next time around and work your way to 25 minutes, the recommended time from the Pomodoro Technique.
7. Shut out noise: Way back in the day when I worked in a corporate environment, I had a neighbor who used his speaker phone every day. When this happened, I turned off my hearing aid to resort to my inborn silence. Few people can do that. Instead, try noise-canceling headphones, ear plugs or listening to music (Dawn outlines some of the strategies she uses here). If you’re a web worker, then you probably have a laptop. Take it and go somewhere quiet.
8. Set up a phone system: You may have people (family and specific colleagues, perhaps) that you must be available for at all times. Brainstorm how you can set up your phone to be open for those important calls, while shutting out the run of the mill calls. See the next tip for one idea.
9. Unleash the cell phone: If you need zero interruptions, then turn off the phone. Don’t just put it on vibrate, as you can hear that. If you must stay leashed to the phone for emergencies, how about modifying your cell phone’s profile? Set it up so that calls from emergency numbers have a specific ring tone, while silencing all other incoming calls.
10. Turn off the landline ringer: Home office workers may have a landline phone to contend with on top of their cell phones. Turn those off. Let the calls go to voicemail.
11. Leave the cell phone in another room: I had to stop bringing my phone with me to workouts because I’d keep check it. If something came in, I’d stop exercising and deal with it. Unless I’m expecting something, I leave my phone in a different room. Out of sight, out of mind.
12. Post instructions on the door: Do you frequently receive packages as part of your work? The doorbell ringing or door knocking can disrupt your work. Leave a note for the delivery services to not ring the bell or knock on the door. Make it a habit to check for packages at set times of the day, if you worry about theft.
13. Schedule social media time: Many of us struggle to limit the number of times we check on our favorite social media sites. If you have a bunch of tweets or notes you want to post, use an automated service to spread them out and keep you away from the site. Or, create a schedule for check-ins.
14. Go offline: C’mon, you must have some tasks you can complete without the Internet. Disconnect your computer or laptop from the network to force the issue, if you must.
15. Create habits: Because I never play games on my desktop in my home office, I never feel the urge to play the addicting ones. It takes 21 days to form a new habit. So pick one habit and stick with it for at least three weeks. Routines do make a difference.
16. Educate family: The school day doesn’t go on long enough for a full day’s work or a partner works in the home with you. Set up visuals that tell your family when they must not interrupt you. It could be closed doors or a sign on the door. Kids have different definitions of emergencies, so discuss what you consider an emergency.
17. Schedule household chores: Taking a short break from the computer is a must. This could be a good time to do brief chores such as loading laundry, marinate dinner or vacuuming one room. Save the longer chores for longer breaks, or when the family is around.

Many web workers rely on technology to get our jobs done. These tips help you draw the line so you use the technology for completing tasks without any sidetracking.

What other distractions do you face? How do you handle them?

Photo credit: Rajesh Sundaram

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But interruptions can add up. Before you know it, the distractions can eat up a good chunk of your day — not exactly a productivity boon. So here I’ve listed what I see as being the most common external distractions that interrupt my day, and provided a few possible ways to make them, well, less distracting. I know that if I can keep these distractions in check, I’m on my way to maintaining good focus through my day.

1. The Phone

Personally, I hate talking on the phone, so I’m pretty good about not being distracted by calls. But I realize I may be in the minority here. You may not be able to divert all your calls to voicemail when you’re trying to concentrate; you may not even want to. But it can help your productivity, for example, to answer work calls only — unless you’re on a break. Let any non-work calls go to voicemail while you’re working.

If you’re frequently called by colleagues when you’re in the middle of something, you might also consider screening your work calls. Let them go to voicemail, and when you next have a moment, check them to get an idea of what’s happening. You may find that more than a few calls are not urgent, or don’t actually require discussion — perhaps your colleague simply called to ask you to send them something. I cut down a lot of unnecessary interruptions this way.

2. Email and IM

Email’s bad enough, but for me, IM is worse. For some reason, almost every time a colleague IMs me, I’m in the middle of a task and am very hesitant to break the flow.

Obviously, you can use your IM status to indicate if you have time to chat with others, but email’s not so easy. Yes, you can close email down until it suits you to review your messages, but we can’t always afford to be “offline.” If you’re in a role that involves some time-critical tasks, you may well need to keep email open at all times.

If you’re in this boat, there are still a few tricks you can use to minimize the impact of email on your workflow. Consider turning off new mail alerts and extending the time that elapses between each new mail check. This way, you can check your email periodically when it suits you, rather than being interrupted every time someone in the office sends an email about clearing out the fridge in the tea room.

Another technique is to focus first and foremost on the emails that are sent directly to you, rather those were you’re included in the “cc:” field. One of my colleagues set her email to display the different groups of messages in different colors, so she knew which ones to attend to without having to open them all. Perhaps you’ll scan emails in which your name appears in the “To:” field as soon as they arrive, and leave the others for reading once you’ve finished what you’re doing. Again, these small changes can make a big difference to the number of interruptions your face every day.

3. The Front Door

Whether it’s your local Greenpeace door-knocker, the UPS delivery person, or your neighbor, visitors can be a big distraction — especially in terms of the time they can take up. If you’re lucky, you might be able to pretend not to be home whenever it suits you, but my workspace is within clear view of the door, so it’s pretty hard for me to ignore visitors. If I had a lot of visitors, though, I’d consider rearranging the space so that I could simply avoid answering the door when I was busy.

If I receive an unexpected visit, and I’m in the middle of something, I usually tell the visitor I’m about to be called for a meeting, since saying “I’m really busy” doesn’t usually discourage my visitors. If it’s a neighbor, I’ll tell them I’ll give them a call later. If you’re firm about this, and do it every time your neighbor comes over, they’ll soon get the message that you’re not available during work hours.

4. Family

Like visitors, family members should ideally be able to understand and respect the constraints on your availability during your working hours. You might be able to reinforce the idea by closing the door to your workspace at those times when you don’t want to be disturbed. Don’t have a door on your home office? Consider using some other signal, like sticking a printed “STOP” sign to the wall near your desk, or the fridge, or wherever your family members are likely to see it as they’re on their way to interrupt you.

If you work well to music, perhaps your family will agree not to interrupt you when they hear music playing, or see you working with your headphones on. One of my friends actually wears earmuffs to block out external noise when she’s trying to focus — a clear sign that she’s trying to concentrate and doesn’t want to be interrupted.

5. Household Interruptions

Many remote workers enjoy the fact that while they’re working from home they can use mini breaks to hang the washing out, brush the dog or load the dishwasher. But some days, these distractions can become serious productivity drains.

When you’re at home, it’s all too easy to think, “Oh, I can fit in a quick trip to the store to pick up milk and bread” but it’s important to recognize that every one of these small tasks takes valuable time from your day — and it’s not quality time out from work, it’s time in which you’re doing chores.

I think the trick is not to agree to too much in the first place, and to leave as much as you can to be done after work hours — as most on-site workers do. Alternatively, you might decide that one or two very small tasks — like packing or unpacking the dishwasher — can be fit into your working day, but that larger tasks like running errands are off-limits during work time.

If for some reason you have a lot of household-related tasks to complete during your day, plan for them. Perhaps you’ll actually dedicate time to do them in your calendar, so they don’t creep into the rest of your day. You may also start your day earlier so you can get everything done.

Of course, if you’re struggling to fit everything in, avoid those household tasks altogether — get your priorities straight at the start of the day or week, and stay focused on them.

These are the major interruptions that assail me as I try to get through each work day — other than my goat, of course. What interrupts you, and how do you make sure it doesn’t take too much time out of your day?

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