How To Minimize Interruptions When You Work At Home
by Maria Marsala
Summary: Minimizing Interruptions Working at Home Interruptions at work cause you to work twice as hard. Use this list to eliminate or reduce the interruptions you can control.
Whether you work from your home's living room, a closet-turned-office, or an office in an apartment, you can minimize interruptions. How? Below are some boundaries to set with others. Don't forget to raise your standards, too.
Keep your office and house as separate as possible. Create an office that you really enjoy walking into and that has everything you want in one area. Organization books call it a "zone" - an area of the house having one purpose.
Schedule your work hours and publicize the schedule on your web site or in your newsletter. Stick to your schedule no matter what!
Do not answer the door when you're on the phone (unless you know someone is coming to the office, of course).
Hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign on your office door and set boundaries with family and friends.
Outside your front door, place a special small box (or personal mailbox) for people to leave you messages. Or leave a note pad and pencil on or near your door.
If you have only one phone, consider screening your calls using your answering machine. A time management class I attended at the American Management Association, NYC, suggested that phone messages be taken and calls returned at your convenience. As a home business owner, you can do the same thing by using your answering machine to screen your calls.
The online programs or hardware devices listed below can help you continue to use one phone line with your computer. Although the services "cost," many don't have adequate customer service via phone or online chat. Costs below do not include local phone company charges for call forwarding and/or caller ID Some quarterly or yearly payment plans, like those from buzme, are non-refundable. AOL, Mac and Linux users check the system requirements before purchasing. List of resources
Purchase a second phone or cell phone for work. Or consider adding a custom ring number to your phone line. This will give you two numbers for about $5 more a month. The new number will ring differently than the main number - usually two short rings compared with one long one - so you can tell when a call is business or personal. Let your personal calls wait until after your scheduled work hours!
Bring water or something to drink into your office when you start work, and may be a small snack as well. If you enjoy tea or coffee, make sure you have it close by.
Do not allow others to walk on your business boundaries. Learn to say no without feeling guilty or giving long-winded explanations. Ask someone who is calling about business to call you back on a workday if they call you on a leisure day.
Follow these simple steps and watch your productivity soar!
©2008 Maria Marsala, the founder of Elevating Your Business, is a business strategist, speaker, author and former Wall Street trader. Since 1998, Maria has helped service sector CEOs, presidents, professionals and management teams struggling with the problems of quickly expanding businesses by helping them to streamlining and automating their planning, operations and marketing processes. The results? Many have doubled their sales, they have more free time, and enjoy a higher quality life. Would you like to be next? Learn more and receive a free business building audio at ElevatingYourBusiness.com
Need a speaker for your next event? Contact Maria today!
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