A Critical Skill For Working From Home – How To Stay Productive When The Unexpected Happens

On a recent road trip from Florida to New York, we had rain the whole way, and as we drove north, we hit colder temperatures, more wind, then sleet and sometimes even snow!

The week before our trip, we had an internet outage in our service area, exactly at the time I was presenting a training webinar, Scott had a client meeting and our oldest happened to be at our place, working her job remotely. All three of us work part-time hours and yet the internet goes out while we all are working!

The week before that, we had two necessary service visits to our condo – you can’t always predict when work needs to be done.

Inclement weather, mechanical trouble and last-minute appointments are all examples of unexpected distractions that can disrupt an otherwise carefully planned schedule. Now that more people are working remotely, having the self-discipline to stay productive is an even more critical skill. Here are four of my favorite hacks for staying productive and minimizing distractions:

1 – Get coverage for time-sensitive activities that can’t be postponed

Scott and I try not to schedule key meetings at the same time so one can help troubleshoot if there is an outage or a service appointment is needed at the last minute. We broke that rule during the recent internet outage, and it caused unnecessary stress. But it was a good reminder to stay diligent about syncing our calendars. We are both consultants, and the Great Resignation is a boom time for consulting work, so we have to stay on top of our time to take full advantage.

2 – Be proactive about eliminating distractions altogether

My kids are grown, but for my clients who still have school-aged children and need to navigate last-minute closures, I have to gingerly remind them that, for work purposes, your kids can be a distraction. When I did have kids at home while working, I kept a list of ad hoc babysitters, including my older kid when she was old enough. Or I tapped the electronic babysitter – extra TV or computer time – when I needed silence or uninterrupted blocks of concentration.

Some distractions I need to anticipate now are when the landscapers descend on our condo complex – it’s so loud that I try to avoid these times when presenting! There are certain times of the year when I know my schedule will be unusually busy (e.g., the holidays which have increased personal commitments and increased appetite for my professional services due to the natural year-end inflection point) – I am ruthless about paring down wherever I can.

3 – Create a more realistic To Do list if a disruption does occur

I know that I don’t concentrate well when I have people around me. So, when household work needs to happen – e.g., we had electricians over recently for half a day – I earmarked that day for any work that didn’t require heavy concentration. I know that when I have meetings outside my home office, it takes some time for me to get back into my work rhythm when I come back.

To compensate, I try to bunch all of my outside meetings in the same day, rather than sprinkled throughout the week. If there is unexpected household work or an unexpected meeting, it often requires that I rethink my To Do list for that day because I am realistic about how I do my best work. Itemize what you plan to do and categorize by when you’ll have the right level of energy and concentration – even if that means tabling some items for another day.

4 – Start planning for the next unexpected emergency

Now that more of us are regularly working from home (or digital nomads), a snow day with the schools closed isn’t as disruptive as before.

However, if you find that you’re still not optimally equipped to work from home, work with your manager and your IT department to improve your setup (e.g., remote access of files, more powerful equipment) and skills (e.g., virtual collaborating) for next time.

Think about what kinds of distractions throw you off-schedule or interrupt your concentration, and plan now for how you will minimize these.