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30
Apr 2010

Making Mundane Tasks More Enjoyable

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I came across a post on the Simple Dollar today and I thought it had some valuable advice that I wanted to share here. Trent writes about “slog work” (monotonous work that has to be done) and ways to make it more bearable. I think we all have slog work that we have to do, but that we dread doing because it is time consuming and boring.

I bet this miserable looking man would enjoy his work a lot more if he had some rockin' tunes to listen to.

At my previous job it was prepping  and making patient charts. Now that I am a stay at home mom, it is the dishes. In order to make this mundane task more enjoyable, I will often purposefully leave all the dishes until the end of the day and then I will either listen to music or a podcast or I will call someone and chat with them while I am working. Sometimes I bring my laptop in the kitchen and watch a movie. (By leaving the dishes until the end of the day, I actually have enough work to listen to the entire podcast or have a lengthy conversation.) My slog work gets done and I don’t even notice I am doing it AND I get to listen to something enjoyable or talk to someone I care about. This is a positive situation all around.

So I would encourage you to think about tasks that you put off because you dread doing them. Is there some way that you could make them more enjoyable to do? If you work in an office, it might be enjoyable just to put on some headphones and do your task without interruption. (Even if you don’t have music playing, you can still block out distracting chatter.) If it is housework or yard work, load up your iPod with some of your favorite tunes and get busy. The time seems to go much quicker when you don’t have to only focus on the mundane work at hand.

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26
Apr 2010

Tips for productivity

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While it's crucial to clear your mind, ears, and desk of distractions, bottom line is you still have to work.

Step 1: Getting rid of distractions

If you’re a faithful reader, then you know I work from home and how I feel about minimizing distractions.  I can’t exactly tell my kids to quit crying (though I have instituted taking turns on who gets to cry) but I can set up some good boundaries for actually getting work done at home.

But what about when you have writer’s (or worker’s) block?  Even if you do set up a home office conducive to work, cover distracting sounds with white noise, and declutter your work space, that doesn’t mean the muse fairy will hit you over the head with a brilliant idea or plan that will set you on a pedestal for the rest of your life.  While it’s crucial to clear your mind, ears, and desk of distractions, bottom line is you still have to work.

Step 2: Getting rid of writer’s (worker’s) block

So, here are few tips for breaking the barrier when you’re staring at a blank screen:

  • Sit there and think for 10 minutes.  Seriously, before you give yourself (another) break, try to come up with a starting point.  It’s not that I don’t value breaks- in fact I have a lot due to the nature of my work day and kids.  However, I think it’s easy to procrastinate by allowing yourself too many.
  • Make a list of things that need to get done and start doing them- it may be that you have a break-through as you make the list or start checking things off.  Sometimes, the feeling of accomplishment is enough to get your mind going.
  • If you’re writing, do a google search and see what others have written.  Sometimes this is good fodder for a new idea or a response to someone else’s.  I find that I write best (ie not plagiarize) if I read an article and then close it, whether I agree with it or not.
  • Since I do work from home and also have small children still at home, I don’t work 9-5.  So, I have a couple hours a couple times a day.  I push it hard while I have the peace and quiet to do it, then when I’m on with the kids, I keep a pad and paper by me so I can jot down any ideas that come to mind.  That way, I’m not working while the kids are around and I also don’t lose an idea.
  • Take breaks.  See, I do value breaks.  I just think they need to be earned.  ;)
  • Frequently, I work on an idea in the back of my head…maybe it’s a real life experience, maybe it’s not, but either way, I find that my best ideas come when I am not technically working.  I usually, mull them over in the back of my mind as I wash dishes (we live in the UK- no dishwasher, so there’s lots of that) or pick up toys or even play with the kids.  Then, I either work on it the next chance I get, or I at least write it down so I don’t forget.

I think what I’m trying to get across is that it’s important to set up a great work space that offers minimal distractions.  However, once you have done that, it’s your turn to channel the creative juices and discipline yourself to actually work.

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22
Mar 2010

Being Proactive When Dealing with Distractions

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I recently found a site that talked about avoiding distractions at work.  I enjoyed reading some of the comments left:

One (wo)man's gain is another man's distraction.

Background Noise

Thanks for all of the tips. The background noise thing is huge for me. If I can hear other people’s conversations, then my mind automatically tries to zero in on that rather than my task at hand. If I am really having trouble, I will turn on some white noise so that way I can’t hear the conversations as well. There are lots of free online noise generators.

Agreed.  In fact, I can even supply you with a free online generator.

A woman amongst Men

I am the only woman on a floor with all guys. The locker room banter and bodily noise demonstrations along with the spontaneous outbursts of sounds, whistling and general turrets behaviors is my biggest distraction.

As a fellow female, I sympathized with this poor woman.  Then, I laughed.  Boys will be boys, I suppose.

The 2-Minute Rule

As our office has grown and the faces and dynamics have changed, I wondered if I was just being overly sensitive, so I counted. I used a post it note and every time someone made an unnecessary, rude, disturbing noise I made a tick mark. After four hours I tallied them to find that someone had made a random, useless outburst every 2 minutes. At least I had something to bring to management. I told them I didn’t want anyone punished, after all the bahavior had been tolerated by other workers and management alike, but that I needed a slightly more subdued work environment to focus. There were some seating changes and some new rules. The guys can still be social, but now at least I can get my work done.

Dealing with Distractions

I imagine this last one is pretty normal.  Distractions and interruptions are part and parcel to working amongst others.  Even working from home can be distracting.  The bottom line , though, is to be proactive.  Ask management to look into it for possible solutions.  If you’re not comfortable with that or you feel you are ratting out the very people amongst whom you must work every day, then be a self-starter and take action on your own. Here are just a few pointers for being  less distracted (and therefore more focused) at work:

  • Draw some boundaries.  Everyone needs a (coffee) break, so do your socializing then and only then.
  • De-clutter your desk so you don’t fell overwhelmed every time you look up.
  • Try the free white noise generator.  It doesn’t work for everybody, but most people will say the low-level background noise helps cover otherwise distracting sounds/bodily emissions/unnecessary interruptions.
  • Have tech-free minutes, even hours, where you devote time to written work or organizational needs.  IBM mandated “quiet time” for some of their engineers.

As a result of proactive techniques such as those listed above, many workers  found they were able to quit working evenings and weekends due to the increased productivity.  That sounds good, doesn’t it?

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