Freelancing: Distractions
As a freelancer that’s still in school, I move back home for the summer into a house with my parents and three younger brothers; and we are all close in age. That translates into a lot of distraction when I am trying to get work done. Between my parents asking me, since I am home, to do chores or run errands and my brothers bothering me to hang out, play cards, watch a movie or just plain bothering me, it can be pretty tough to get work done around here. So here are some tips on getting some work done if you face distractions like these.
- Close and Lock your door
- This might be the best method since when people see my door closed they usually know not to distract. Without people coming in and out of my room, it’s much easier for me to sit down and focus on what I need to do.
- Headphones
- My friends at school like to make fun of me for them, but I have a pair of big headphones that really do a great job of drowning out any and all ambient (and not so ambient) noise. With my music and nothing else in my ears, I find even in crowded rooms I can focus.
- Work when your friends work
- The nice thing about freelancing is you make your own schedule. So if you find yourself tempted by going out or working, just find out when your friends work and get your work done then. That way you get to work free of distraction (from them anyway) and get to hang out later when they get off work.
- Saying No
- My parents and friends don’t like this one so much, but when it is crunch time and my friends want to hang out or my parents need me to go to the store, sometimes I have to say no. It’s tough to draw a line between work and play (or whatever not work is) when you don’t have set hours, but when it comes down to it they will understand you need to get your work done.
For me, the first three methods work better than the last one. As many of my friends know, I have a hard time saying no to people. That’s actually why I have so much work, which is what lead me to write this post…
