If you Work From Home ....

[WFH]

What do you do on those days and times that you really cannot focus and stay attentive to a task?

I try to plan my day so more difficult tasks are completed when I am most focussed.

Sometimes though after lunch I just cannot get back into the swing of things. I can't keep my focus and go from job to job without really completing anything.

I may take a break but this tends to just delay the day as I still can't really stay on task.

I may cherry pick easy stuff or sort out a to do list for the next day.

What do you do?

Can you relate to the above or do you find generally you can always stay focused on doing something?

I leave my phone elsewhere so I'm not tempted.

Do something else, home admin, housework, gardening until the guilt kicks in and I head back to my desk, having actually accomplished something.

Or take a short nap

Or right now I'm having a in the garden.

Is it really any different than a day in the office when you aren’t feeling especially productive? You try to find a task that fits your mood, but just buckle down and keep at it.

Have you looked at Toggl and captured your time?

It's really good to see the chunks of time you put into each task, and where & when you're most productive.

Lots of people struggle to focus for hours at a time on individual tasks. There are systems to overcome this and/or refocus.

If I were in the office I'd have other people to talk to, and a busy London street outside to provide a bit of brain activity and distraction. And Pret 😂

At home I'm in my house where I can see jobs that need doing, in a very quiet suburb I know inside out, in almost silence. Sometimes you just need to do something else for a while.

I guess you wouldn't take a nap, so household chores or necessarily go out for a walk when in the office and this has cropped up a lot on this thread so that fact it's work at home is pertinent.

I can recall announcing on the odd day in the office that I felt like I hadn't got anything done, you know when dashing from one meeting to the next and not having a chance to get stuck into anything meaty.

I get all the fiddly data stuff done and try and answer loads of calls. I prefer talking to customers at home, our office is deal silent and it makes me self conscious.

I start earlier and finish earlier, which seems to work with me.

I wfh most days, but have to be available on the phone and teams all the time, work is pretty intense and interactive. I work way harder at home without distractions than in the office.

This is why I've gone back to the office. I find it hard when I'm at home to find something that remotivates me whereas at work I can have more screen free options and get far more of a buzz from my work and the social interactions and that keeps me motivated. On the days I WFH I tend to schedule mindless admin tasks and listen to music and just accept it's going to be a less productive day. It's only when I'm really busy and have to get things done that I'm as productive at home.

Wiggle the mouse and watch tv or do housework 🙂. I don't believe nobody else does this! AND surely some WFH admin such as cleaning the office is allowed...

I've never missed a deadline, I work like a daemon some days and others I don't get much done and they balance each other out.

I'm pretty sure when I worked in the office I spent the equivalent amount of time chatting to people in the kitchen!

I don't have a choice as the phone needs answering! Mostly grumble

Someone shared this on Mumsnet forever ago when I asked something similar, and I’ve got it saved for when I’m feeling a slump
theantiburnoutclub.com/how-to-get-motivated-to-do-anything-14-ways-to-get-and-stay-motivated/

I use 3-4 of those techniques most days now and find my motivation seems to stick.

I have certain things to do 1st thing that have to be done. Then after that is a selection of things to be done within SLA. I wfh permanently now our office was closed and relocated up north

If I get my work done to the satisfaction of my boss, I feel zero guilt doing nothing. I've never done a full day.

Oh gosh some of you are yet again giving people who work from home have a bad name!

I'm on it all day. My calendar is packed, if I have meeting free time I plan in a task. I also plan in my lunch so I get a break.

Working from home is not easy it takes discipline and many just don't have it.

Sorry but nobody has said they're not getting their work done? Everyone has different working styles - nothing to do with 'discipline'.

It's your choice if you want to chain yourself to your desk 9-5. Welcome to the 21st century - it's called flexitime.

I have worked at home for 5 years. Prior to that I did study from home and was shit at it. Procrastinated and got easily distracted. I was worried when I took this job it would be the same. But it wasn't. I have found it much easier to stay focused and just sit at my desk to work than I did studying with no structure.
Could never go back to a physical office after this.

And this is why WFH has so much bad press

You sound very hard working and conscientious, OP.

No one can stay 100% focussed at all times, though. It sounds like you're doing as well, or better than, most people on that front.

Definitely don't be too hard on yourself. You'll almost certainly be more effective/productive if you give yourself a bit of slack.

If I go for a swim at lunchtime I am way more focused than the days I don't.

Sometimes I change location. I usually work at a desk but if I'm struggling to concentrate sometimes I switch to the sofa for a while - it weirdly helps me!

I find some holier than though WFHers are actually really inefficient.

The proof is in the pudding isn't it? Your outputs are what matters

I have the attention span of a toddler, and literally it's do one task, wander make a drink, chat to DH (also WFH) then I'll do a bit more.

But my outputs are way higher than my boss expected at this point.

In the office I get way less done, I chat to everyone, about everything. Wander around, have to go outside to vape. Etc etc..

Maybe it's just a slow paced industry?

That being said, people cannot concentrate for long periods of time. People may think they are, but they aren't.

I either set 15 minute alarms or if I REALLY Can't get into it then I will log off and do some housework or go for a walk and log back in later. I don't mind working later if all my housework is done.

Nope. Really efficient and good at my job. Work flexi time. Just annoyed with wfh being portrayed as an opportunity to slack off.

I did the same amount of work in the office except I had to spend a fortune getting there and pretend to be busy when I wasn't. Being busy doesn't necessarily mean getting things done.