GetOutOfTheOffice.com

In my first months of working from home “all alone” I was struck by the silence. I had the radio on and I spoke with clients and contacts throughout the day but I was used to working in an office with over twenty people and a company with an overall staff of seventy. In that environment I was used to having casual social interactions throughout the day even if it was just saying ”hi” as I passed someone in the hall, hearing a joke from two desks over or sharing lunch and breaks with co-workers. But now I was working from home and with my family at work/school during the day there was no one to talk to and I found the lack of social interaction was affecting my productivity.

My belief is that we are social creatures and if we are not getting our social needs met we start to get off track. As my “lack of co-workers” was affecting my work I launched into a little project to make sure I was addressing the issue. The amount of social interaction we need and how we compensate for that varies from person to person, so you need to look at your own situation as to what of the following will work for you.

First, have a plan and use “little tricks” for staying focused and getting your needs for social interaction met constructively. I say this because it is easier in the short term to get those needs met destructively, for example, “vegging” in front of the TV.

Try things like:
- Use Skype to video-conference instead of just using the phone.
- Get out for lunch if you can a few times per week.
- Make sure you spend ample time with family and friends. It’s too easy for us as solopreneur’s to work all the time, so practice “leaving the office” - turn off the computer and shut off the lights.

And maybe most important, just be conscious of your need for social interaction and make sure you get that need met.  Again, as solopreneur’s we seem to put the needs of our clients ahead of ourselves and this is a short term strategy at best.

As for the little tricks I mentioned earlier . . .

1. Time Block - Answer phone calls and emails at specific times throughout the day. Don’t pick up the phone everytime it rings and read an email every time the desktop alert beeps because everytime you get distracted it takes time to get refocused. My only caveat to this technique is to anwser client calls or those calls you are expecting.

2. Disable Your Email Desktop Alert - In order to better support the previous point, disable your email desktop alert (the best way to do this is to Google “disable desktop alert for Outlook or Entourage” etc.)

3. Take Regular Breaks - Use a countdown timer and work in one hour increments or use a program like Simpleology’s Wimiki which dims your screen every hour and tells you to take a 5 minute break, stretch and have a drink of water. When I started this my productivity went up immediately.

4. Take An Extended Break At Mid-Day (kind of a follow-up to my get out for lunch strategy above) - break your day into two 4 hour blocks (then again when was the last time any of us worked 8 hours? Maybe I should say two 6 hour blocks)

5. Change Locations - I use a laptop with a wireless internet connection and I move around throughout the day. I work in my office in the morning, usually go out onto the deck in the afternoon (during the summer anyway) and I prep for the next day downstairs in the den during the evening. The change of scenery really helps break up the day.

6. Don’t Overbook Yourself - Being overbooked can lead to feeling overwhelmed which can in turn lead to thoughts of “no matter what I do, I’m not going to win” - not exactly a strategy for success.

7. Book Lag Time Into Your Schedule - to better support point #6 book one hour at mid-day and call it LAG TIME. Unexpected things will come up and the one hour block will allow you to keep your schedule on track without having to continually re-schedule your afternoon activities.  

8. Make Appointments With Yourself - Time is your most precious commodity and it seems others are always willing to spend yours. If someone wants to do something and you need to work (or take time for yourself) respond by saying that you have an appointment. When people hear this they seem to be automatically conditioned to say “Okay” whereas if you were to say you need to work or just relax you usually get the “Oh! Come On! You can make the time!”.

9. Book Appointments With Yourself In The Morning and Others In The Afternoon - it always seems we are more inclined to keep appointments with others than we are to keep them with ourselves. For most people energy declines after lunch so put yourself first in the morning when your energy is high. Generally meeting with someone else in the afternoon is enough to help bring up your energy.

10. Book Your Tasks Onto Your Calendar - estimate how much time a task or project will take and schedule it on your calendar. I do this the previous evening taking into account deadlines etc and find this helps me work on the necessary few instead of the trivial many.  

11. Schedule Your Day Based On Your Energy, Passions & Interests - As a solopreneur Virtual Assistant you have more control over your daily schedule than most so mix up your day where you can. One hour spent on something you’re passionate about and then one hour of something more mundane makes it easier to stay focused than if you did four straight hours of data entry.
 
12. Create a Checklist to ensure that you use these and other techniques consistently:

[ ] Time Block Email & Phone Calls
[ ] Schedule five minute breaks every hour
[ ] Schedule Mid-Day Break
[ ] Change Locations
[ ] Don’t Overbook Yourself
[ ] Book Lag Time Into Your Schedule
[ ] Make Appointments With Yourself
[ ] Appointments With Yourself In The Morning, Others In The Afternoon 
[ ] Book Tasks To Your Calendar
[ ] Plan Your Tasks Based On Your Passions & Interests

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