If there is one subject or topic I discuss a lot with individuals who contact me about working from home, it is this; “how do you deal with the distractions working at home?” Unlike some, I really don’t look at them as distractions. But, they can and will cause you to get off task sometimes.

I am one of the lucky ones. My children are not small and under foot. My office itself is fairly quite as it is located in the basement. At least quite until my wife decides to vacuum the living room which is right above my home office. It actually sounds like a herd of elephants playing right above me. I usually take that time as a reason to get away from what I am doing and take a break.

To deal with the distractions we all face working out of a home office, I ran across a post today from The Home Office Organizer. Home Office Distractions: 4 Tips to Overcome Them provides these great tips.

1. Use your distractions as breaks. If you were in a cubicle or office outside your home, no doubt you would take a trip to the water cooler or a break outside. So, do the same in your home office. Put in a load of laundry, change the sheets, talk to a neighbor (maybe they work from home too), check the mail or go pull some weeds. You might think of your multi-million dollar idea while washing your socks!
2. Set a time limit. If you choose to do something around the house, be sure you are accountable. Setting a timer or scheduling a conference call will keep you accountable and less likely to get completely off track.
3. Hire help. If you simply don’t have the time (or patience) to do your household chores, consider hiring someone to come in a vacuum or do the laundry for you. If it nags on your brain, you will know it’s getting done and you concentrate on other things.
4. Talk a walk. Talk a walk and clear your head. Did you know that Ralph Waldo Emerson and some other great authors and thinkers were walkers? So, strap on your running/walking shoes and get some fresh air. I’ll bet that little “fold the laundry” voice will be harder to hear two blocks away.

If any of you have ways to help with those little distractions we face working from a home office, leave them in a comment to this post. Lets keep the conversation going.