Thanks to Walter Prescher, BridgingApps Digital Navigator, who provided the idea for this article. Walter’s household includes six kids (ages 16 to 4), two cats, multiple dogs (including one service animal), and a turtle.
For nearly 14 percent of working Americans, “the office” and “daily life” share a common roof. And if you have a disability, especially one that impairs rush-hour commuting, remote work may be just the accommodation you need.
The Problems
On the other hand, working from home can pose challenges not found in a traditional office. What do you do if:
- Your neighbor/father-in-law/spouse (who’s never had a remote job) keeps pestering you to do errands and extra chores because you’re “home anyway”?
- Your child with IDD bursts into your home office every fifteen minutes?
- Your cat fixates on your work keyboard as the perfect napping spot?
- You constantly hear ringing, beeping, and buzzing from non-work devices?
Annoying enough to any worker, these situations are a nightmare for anyone who struggles with distractibility or sensory overload.
The Remedies
You can’t file an ADA complaint against neighbors whose everyday chatter drifts into your office space. But there are many ways to reduce working-at-home distractions.
- Don’t hesitate to tell people what you need. Most household members and neighbors are willing to give you space for concentrating on important meetings and projects—provided you define the boundaries clearly, and stay reasonable and considerate yourself. (Arguments typically start when pent-up annoyance bursts out in some version of “I expected you to just know.”)
- If you have household members who really can’t understand (pets, children under two, someone with severe mental impairment), try to arrange things so they’re napping or otherwise occupied during your busiest hours. Ideally, get someone else to watch them when you can’t.
- Wear headphones or turn on “white noise” to block distracting sounds. Close your office door or lower the window shades to block distracting sights. (Don’t keep those shades down all the time, though: regularly looking out the window is good for your eyes and brain.)
- Turn off all unnecessary “new message” alerts. (See the BridgingApps videos on managing volume/notifications for Apple and Android.) Set regular hours or intervals to check messages, and concentrate on immediate tasks the rest of the time.
- To further reduce interruptions, put your devices in Do Not Disturb mode. (Look under Settings–Sounds on an Android device, Settings–Focus on an iOS.)
- Turn off notifications on personal as well as work devices. Consider a full ban on personal devices in your home-office area.
- If your job involves internet research or social-media posting, the worst distractions may be unrelated links sharing a screen with your work. It’s hard to avoid digital temptations entirely, but you can reduce them by: (1) using “no-ads” accounts whenever possible; (2) setting timers or calendar alerts to periodically remind you what you’re online for; (3) installing an app to block “nonwork” websites and apps during work hours.
Finally, recognize that the demanding boss you’re trying to please may be you. Absent onsite supervision (and chatty coworkers and break rooms), many workers become so concerned about not doing “enough” that they do more than is good for them. Don’t stay glued to your computer twelve hours a day just because you have no “official” closing bell. You (and the other members of your household) deserve better.
Set your own digital alert to signal daily breaks and quitting time—and when the “quitting time” alert goes off, shut down your work computer, close your office, and enjoy your evening!