A Focused Workspace

As a virtual worker, you may be tempted to spend your time working in coffee shops, the local library or even the park. It is liberating to be able to work from anywhere you choose. However, if you spend the majority of your working time out and about in novel environments, you are much more likely to be distracted and taken off your focus by all the temptations and curiosities of the world around you.

Setting up a home office that is quiet, uncluttered and private can make the job of staying focused a lot easier for a virtual worker. When creating your working space, think ahead about how you can mitigate certain distractions and create an environment conducive to good focus. Consider a space with plenty of natural light and fresh air to help you feel alert throughout the day.

Some distractions in our working environment might be outside of our control. In this case, the best thing that we can do is find ways to block them out. If you live in a very noisy place and you are sensitive to sound as a distraction, consider investing in some noise-canceling headphones so that you can stay ‘in the zone’ when you need to. If the people passing by a window into your workspace are distracting you, consider putting a translucent frosted film across it which will let in the light while blocking the distraction. If your phone just keeps ringing all day with cold calls, consider turning off the ringer during the hours when you don’t want to be disturbed.