Discussion: How to Stay Productive

Thursday, August 25, 2016

It has been awhile since I came out with a new discussion post, but today I have a good one for you! I was asked to share some thing that hinder my productivity in my home office and what I do to combat these things!

First of all, I don't really have much for a home office yet. I blog from my couch in front of the television. I have a specific vision for what I want my home office to look like when I make one someday. For now, I am on the hunt for a desk that fits my criteria. It is not going well.

Anyway, here are four things that can hinder my productivity and how I deal with it!

Productivity Hinderance #1: The TV

Honestly, this one can be REALLY bad, but I don't find it to be too much of a problem for myself. I have antenna tv. All I can pick up is five channels. Three of them are PBS, one is FOX, and the other is NBC. There aren't very many shows I find myself wanting to watch on these channels. Except on Wednesdays.

To combat the TV from hindering my productivity, I usually have it muted. I mostly just like it to have it on for the company. And on Wednesdays I just let myself not be productive. September 21st is when all my shows come back on!

Productivity hinderance #2: Social Media

Since most of the work I do is on the computer, it's VERY easy to get distracted by social media. Even if it's not on the computer, it's beyond easy to just pull it up on my phone and get lost in my Twitter feed or on Instagram. My new thing I like to do constantly is refresh the Instagram stories to see what the people I follow are up to. Also, I spend a lot of time procrastinating by filling online shopping carts with things I can't have.

To combat the social media/internet distraction, I try to do housework instead. If I find myself struggling with what I want to say in a post and don't feel like reading a book for more blog material, instead of turning to social media, I try to go accomplish something productive in my house. There's always dishes that need doing or laundry that needs to be put away. I recently learned there is a surround wifi enhancer that also allows you to turn off access to certain sites, like social media. This way you won't even be tempted to look until your work is done and you can turn it back on!

At least then I'm being productive somehow.

Productivity Hinderance #3: The Boyfriend

I love the boy, I really do. But he never wants to talk to me when I don't have a post inspiration. And when I do, he talks so much that I can't focus on what I'm doing. I try to make it work so that when he's not busy working I can do whatever with him. But when I do that, he just wants to play his farming game.

And I swear the only time he ever REALLY wants to play a game or watch a movie with me is when I have other things that need to be done. For instance, I just participated in an ARC Tour. I had ten days to read the book. I told him this several times, but he was just dead set on actually hanging out with me.

Combatting this productivity hinderance can be hard because it's not always easy to make him go away. Usually if I offer myself up for one round of Mario Kart or something, he will leave me alone to finish up what needs to be done.

Productivity Hinderance #4: The Cat

Look at that naughty face.

When my cat is inside the house, he is a huge hinderance to my productivity. I'm always having to chase him down because I can hear him scratching the walls somewhere in my house or he's doing something else naughty and I have to go find the squirt bottle and find him. Or he's feeling feisty and won't stop biting me. Or there's the very rare occasions where he's feeling actually affectionate and he comes and sits on my lap and makes it hard to blog.

To combat this, I generally open the door and tell him to get out of my house. It gets old having to get up over and over and over to go find him and stop him from doing naughty things.

I don't combat anything when he's feeling affectionate. I accept the kitty snuggles because they don't happen as often as I'd like.

What are some things that hinder your productivity? Do we have any that are the same? What do you do to stop the hinderances?


2 comments:

  1. When I am home I often just want to be off the computer and hanging out with my mom since I am on a computer (and not with my mom) for the entire work day. I do a lot of blog stuff during my break at work to try and minimize computer time at home. I also read on my lunch and commute which makes up a lot of my blogging time! My main secret is that I work way in advance. this month I'm writing posts that will publish in October which is actually a little behind schedule for me (August was bananas). Because I have a big buffer of posts scheduled and ready to publish, I don't have to scramble to be productive and meet deadlines all the time.

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    1. I wish I could do things that way! I spend all day at work on the computer, but just in my pack app, shipping packages. And I usually skip lunch so I can go home earlier. And I have to drive and it's generally frowned upon to read and drive. Haha! I need to work on getting my posts done more in advance. Everytime I get a bunch built up, it's like I take that as I don't have to work on my blog for awhile and then I'm struggling to get my posts out when I need them out! Haha! I guess I'm one of those people that works harder, not smarter.

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