How Time Management Skills Control Distraction when Working from Home

Anyone working from home must use effective time-management skills to control distraction and boost productivity. Distractions are like undisciplined children. They shout for attention and break concentration: You need to wash the clothes! When are you going to do the taxes? Your telephone messages are stacking up! How about a game of solitaire? Such distractions clutter your mind and squander your time. They can leave you side-tracked and unproductive, with the feeling that there are not enough hours in the day. In truth, we're all get the same number of hours to work with. People working from home, who master time-management skills, are able to control distractions, reduce stress, and enjoy greater productivity.

David Allen, productivity consultant and the creator of the Getting Things Done time management method, said, in his lecture, GTD and the Two Keys to Sustaining a Healthy Life and Work Style, "your ability to generate power," when working from home, "is directly proportional to your ability to concentrate. Your ability to concentrate is directly proportional to your ability to eliminate distraction. Your ability to eliminate distraction is directly proportional to your use of effective time-management skills."

Randy Pausch, former computer science professor from the University of Virginia, agreed with David Allen. Most of us remember Randy Pausch for his profound "The Last Lecture," given shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer. Randy Pausch gave an inspiring Time-Management lecture in 2007. He said, "Time is a commodity more valuable than money. We can never earn time back; we can earn money back."

Following are time-management skills and their benefits, gleaned from the lectures of David Allen and Randy Pausch.

How Time-Management Skills Give You Power Over Distraction

David Allen says that the mind stores up distractions and reminds us of them at inappropriate times. For instance, you wake you up in the middle of the night worrying about something that you can't resolve until morning. He says the solution is to provide your mind a better system, so that it can let go of the distractions and let you sleep.

A better system comes by identifying the distractions and listing them, so that you are conscious of all the things you can choose to do at any time and place. David Allen calls this "control." You gain "perspective" by prioritizing your options, choosing your direction, and then working the list1 by 1. You are then able to relax and work on the things most important to you.

Randy Pausch ranked commitments in this way:

#1 due soon, important
#2 not due soon, but important
#3 not important
#4 not important, not due soon.

* This ranking is the beginning of your daily plan, or to-do list, for getting things done when working from home.

* Set work-related priorities at the end of every week. Spend an hour or so planning for the next week.

* When working from home, have your to-do list visible at all times. You can make adjustments, as needed.

* Designate a room as your office so that you can shut out distractions when working from home.

* Set office hours. Focus only on work projects during office hours. Learn to say "no" when interruptions occur.

How Time-Management Skills Give You Power over Clutter

Pausch and Allen say clutter muddles thinking. They recommend eliminating clutter when working from home.

* Keep your desk clear. Keep one item on your desk at a time. When finished, cross it off the list and move to the next item.

* Go through all your paperwork. Dispose, file, archive, or prioritize commitments. Do the same with emails.

* File everything alphabetically, including receipts.

* Have a designated place for your phone book and all office supplies. Organized people can find things.

Allen says people tend to have the greatest job satisfaction right before a holiday. At this time, they "clean, organize, clarify, grab and re-negotiate agreements." He recommends doing this weekly, rather than yearly.

How Time-Management Skills Give You Power over Your Time

* Randy Pausch suggests keeping a "Time Journal." Monitor yourself in 15-minute increments for between 3 days and 2 weeks. He says you'll be amazed by how your time is spent when working from home.

* David Allen and Randy Pausch both mentioned Pareto's 80/20 rule as a guideline for planning. 20% of the things we do are vital and 80% are trivial. Put 80% of your time on the 20% that give you the best results. Work on the 20% during your most creative time of day. Schedule the 80% for your "down-time." When distractions cause you to re-adjust your schedule, don't compromise the most important 20%.

* Develop short and long-term-goals. This gives you a benchmark for what you want to accomplish. Keep goals posted where you can always see them.

Randy Pausch's Time-Management Skills Primer

1. Invest in a palm pilot and use it to keep track of commitments.
2. Create a "To-Do" List. List tasks in priority order.
3. Keep a Time Journal. Count the number of hours you watch TV.
4. Make a note for 30 days from today. Ask yourself, "What have I changed?"

In Conclusion

Developing time-management skills isn't a prison sentence. It's quite the opposite. Implementing time-management skills, when working from home, allows you freedom to control what you do and when you do it. You become more relaxed, more productive, and more fulfilled when you control your time. Randy Pausch gets the last word.

"Remember," he said. "Time is all we have. You may find one day you have less than you think."

Those are wise words from one who knew.

Sources
David Allen, lecture, GTD and the Two Keys to Sustaining a Healthy Life and Workstyle, October, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7vUdKTlhk

Money Instructor.com
"Effective Time Management Skills: Working from Home"
http://www.moneyinstructor.com/art/timemanage.asp

Randy Pausch, lecture, Time Management , University of Virginia, November, 2007
http://www.cs.virginia.edu/robins/TM2007.html