Just can’t concentrate on work anymore, anyone else?

[Covidbegone]

I’ve been working from home since the start of lockdown like many people. At first, it was a misssion with home schooling and fitting in my job into the evenings. Now the kids have gone back, and in theory I can crack on during the day, but I’m finding it even harder than when the kids were needing my attention.

My job is quite creative and I miss working with my team. I get sent jobs, and unless there’s an urgency behind them, I feel I have no motivation to do them. The blur of office and home life are becoming a constant distraction. I’m putting the washing on when I should be working, or putting a presentation together when I should be sorting the kids out. The online meetings are giving me zoom fatigue, and I’m invited to many which don’t even seem to be relevant to me so most of the time I don’t feel useful anyway.

When I do get stuck into something my DH will walk into my office/ our bedroom and my concentration is shot to pieces again. Does anyone else feel like this? I just want the boundaries of home life and office life back. I’m sure even if it was for a day a week it would give me some motivation to try harder. Anyone else?

Yes to an extent... im over WFH full time. Ideal for me would be 50:50x
I’m being strict with myself and putting my phone in a different room. The Teams meetings are hard going at the moment.

I'm the same, its why I'm on MN now!
I've tried various things, and thankfully I wfh only 2 days a week, 3 in the office which I will be continuing with.
I found pomodoro (prob wrong spelling) technique worked well. Someone on here told me about it, Google it, its dead simple.
Also I now play background noise on you tube of an office environment and a busy coffee shop. There are a few to chose from.
I find i concentrate better with 'people' sounds but actual TV or radio is too distracting.
Might that be helpful?
I also have a list of non negotiable each day and just focus on getting those done. Adds a bit of pressure which I also need to be productive.

I was like this in August, after the kids went back here. It felt much harder to focus and concentrate when I had all the time in the world without juggling kids and homeschooling and housework. I found that taking a week off to clear my head and rest really helped. I then put in some immovable deadlines for written work, and arranged meetings to support that work so I would need to get stuff done. I don’t have DH at home now, but when he was home we agreed protected work time during which we wouldn’t interrupt each other even to bring a cup of tea.

I also made a clear boundary between work and home, so work started at 9.30 and finished at 17.00 come what may, no evening catch up and no weekend working - which helped me be more available to my kids and forced me to focus during my work time. No just popping in a laundry or wiping the kitchen down during my work hours, on quickly checking emails at the weekend. After about 6 weeks of rigidly sticking to it, I found I was able to relax a bit without it all going to shit again.

It’s hard, and can feel very isolating but my boss and I make time to bounce things off each other and be available during work hours, so I’m not in it by myself.

ditto! I've hit the wall today.

Yeo I'm feeling exactly the same. Absolutely no motivation, on my phone far too much and generally just can't be bothered. Need to snap out of this mindset quickly.

Its half three. Can we call it a day yet?

Me too. I'm totally over it this week, not concentrating at all despite huge amount of work which needs to be done.
I'm not even doing much around the house, just staring out the window and shuffling through old emails before a 'quick' look at MN.
I think the clocks changing has made everything worse because it's always dark when you're not working. I went for a run yesterday at lunchtime which was great but then couldn't re-focus on work at all afterwards.

I don't think it helps that the weather is beautiful through the week and miserable every weekend here. And dark at both ends of the day.

I'm so glad it's not just me. I don't think the state of the world helps. What with all the negativity we're surrounded with. I've been spending too long refreshing the US election results pages.

This is me, I feel like I’m caught in this battle of doing very little but then feeling awful that I’ve done so little.

Glad I'm not the only one. I've always had a good mix of wfh and office work. I have a wfh contract. I miss people and interaction. I'm fed up of video calls and I'm eating too much. I feel bored and my concentration levels are minimum at best. Then the anxiety kicks in, I know I should do more, panic that work will think I'm a slacker and I'll lose my job. Feels like a viscous circle.

If someone has the answer to resolving this I'd be eternally grateful.

Same. I can't stop being drawn to my phone. And with lockdown work are back on the well-being stuff to do on top work and frankly it's overwhelming.

Oh thank goodness it’s not just me! Will look at that pomodoro technique for sure. More procrastinating for me 😂 this week has been a complete wash out

Things all round are pretty depressing at the moment. Its hard to feel motivated.

Ditto. Echo what everyone else has already said. I’m just scrolling through the news, MN and FB all day. Feeling more and more depressed and demotivated.
Doesn’t help that my accountant has sent my tax bill today! Self emp, and have received zero help from the government, so feeling pretty bitter about that...

Yes and it's not like me at all. I am normally highly motivated but I keep staring at my computer screen and hours go by without me getting stuck in. It's getting very frustrating as I have a lot to do. Colleagues luckily feel the same as me.

Oh, and saw a fucking mouse in my living room earlier, so on edge about that!

Absolutely ALL OF THIS. Ugh.

@tigerbear

Oh, and saw a fucking mouse in my living room earlier, so on edge about that!

Eek!!

Also glad it is not just me. Feel lucky to be able to WAH but started a new job during lockdown and getting to know the new team and firm feels so tricky and my concentration span is definitely dwindling.

Been like this for a fortnight so far. It’s taken me a week to get through half a set of minutes I need to type up - it’s awful.

How did we all do today?

I went into the office for the first time since March, just me and my boss, it was so good to see four walls that aren’t my house.

Can I join? My office has been closed throughout so me and DP have been wfh in a tiny flat for the duration. I have whole days where I am sitting at the computer but am so distracted and demotivated I faff around forever and never tackle the tough tasks....

until they become really urgent then I have a hugely stressy few days, work stupid hours and get in a twist as the deadlines approach. I produce an enormous amount of work in those few days though and hit the deadlines. Then back to the faffing and demotivatiin again til the next deadline approaches.
Rinse and repeat. It’s not good.

It’s because I lack self discipline. I just can’t get my arse in gear these days until things get unbearably urgent. Sigh, how does one build self discipline? I’ve tried rewarding myself with biscuits but it’s not ideal.

Same here. I was doing fine until about noon today. And now I’ve hit some kind of wall. Can’t focus or think. Even a brief walk didn’t snap me out of it. None of my usual tricks are picking me up. I have so much to do as well. Argh.