b'Keep your scheduleand dont do 3.housework!While this tip might seem silly, everyone from home faces this challenge: theres a big pile of dishes in theTodd Martin, CEO of the sink, and it seems imperative to clean them right now! Heres aIndependent Professional secret, thoughthats a distraction.Seed AssociationDont do house chores as an excuse to not do work, Klieger says. Its easy to say Im going to finish the laundry or clean up around the house.Klieger says its easy to procrastinate with housework, espe-cially if you like a neat space. When you are at work, you cant worry about the state of your house, she says. Its easy to stop and say, Oh, I need to do some laundry! Oh, I need to walk the dogs! Martin says. Act like youre in an office toMichelle Klieger,try and minimize the distraction of being in the house. Everyonepresident of Stratagerm Consultingworking from home, even pros, say they suffer from the same thing. But youve got to maintain focus and keep your schedule.Its easy at home to work all the time, and itsCoordinate schedules to minimize distractionshard to get away from it. But, at some point you One thing to noteworking from home during have to say theres a time where things need to wait5.COVID-19 is still different than working from home in normal conditions. There are more distractions in the until the next day.house, due to more people being present, which canTodd Martin cause difficulties in productivity.I worked from home for two years before COVID, Klieger says. I found it challenging to suddenly have my daughter and Make sure to know when to turn work off4.At the office, its easy to know when your designatedhusband home with me. There were more schedules to coor-dinate and competing conference calls, plus the new schedule work hours are. Most employers dictate the specificwas difficult for our dog. Suddenly, she was always awake and hours employees should be working at the office.bothering me.Think about your standard nine to five jobsyou know exactlyWhile Klieger says theres no way to fully eliminate distrac-when youre working and when youre getting done. But work- tions, shes found that coordinating schedules has helped these ing from home can cause that line to blur.new challenges. When you get done, close the door to work, Martin says.My husband and I sit down each night and talk about what Its easy at home to work all the time, and its hard to get awaymeetings we must attend or what has to get done, she says. from it. But, at some point you have to say theres a time whereWe work together to make sure each of us has the time we things need to wait until the next day. need. Other than that, I recommend a lot of patience!Martin says one of the big difficulties with this is the issue thatMartin notes that on his most productive days, hes had to most peoplebe it customers or co-workerswant an imme- fully plan out his days. diate answer from you, because our technology has advanced toI make blocks for busy dayseach activity has its own time the point where we can get immediate responses.block, he says. Its easier to stay on task when youre busy, but Everything is not I need to get this done right now, he says.its hard to stay on task when the day is slow.This is important for work-life balance. Sometimes, you need toThats where blocking off time and coordinating his schedule put your phone away and pay attention to the people around you. has really helped. I work in my office and dont bring my laptop to the familyI really have to work on my time management skills on slow room at night, she says. If I make an exception, I use the dyingdays, Martin says. If I havent blocked off my day to accomplish battery as a limiter a proxy for a one hour timer. Once the bat- things, Im going to get distracted. It all goes back to setting a tery dies, Im done working for the night.schedule for the day.SW80/ SEEDWORLD.COMINTERNATIONAL EDITION 2021'