When you’re working from home, you don’t have the focused environment that the office provides. Understandably, you could be killing your productivity by making these easy mistakes. Don’t worry though. If you identify these mistakes in your daily routine, we’re going to tell you just how to fix them.

One of the biggest killers of productivity is social media. When you’re working from a computer, and especially your phone, social media can be a deadly temptress. What starts as a 5-minute break can easily turn into an hour of meaningless scrolling, a.k.a. wasted time.

The great thing is there is an easy solution to this problem (unless you have to be on social media for you job) – log out.

If you struggle to stay off of Facebook or Snapchat while you’re working, logout of those accounts when you’re on the clock. It’s easy to open an app or pull up a browser that you’re already logged into. By logging out, you’re adding another step and hopefully a deterrent to your distraction.

While you can’t just get rid of your children when you have to work from home, there are ways to limit the distractions that come with having to parent while you work.

1. Distractions: Supply your children with ample things to keep them distracted while you’re working. Whether it be toys, movies or crafts, find things they can manage with little supervision that will keep them distracted for pockets of time.
2. Meal prep: Kids have to eat, but that doesn’t mean you have to spend excessive amounts of time cooking their meals and feeding it to them. In the evenings, prepare easy to cook or ready to serve meals that they can feed to themselves. Obviously this won’t be of much help if you have a young child that still needs supervision while eating or is bottle/breastfed, but it is a great way to save time with the older ones.
3. Separate: An easy way to eliminate the distractions that come from working at home with children is to have a designated workspace and play area. It may seem logical to work in the same room as the children so you can keep better supervision of them, but if you use solutions 1 and 2, number 3 will be much easier. Have an area toy-free that you can focus on work, and help your kids learn to play in another area. Get more advice on setting up an office at home here.
   

Now this doesn’t specifically target Netflix as a productivity killer, but rather your TV and anything you put on it. Some people swear by having a movie or TV show playing in the background while they work, but this can actually limit your ability to focus on work, even if you don’t realize it.

Just like with social media, there is an easy fix to this. Don’t have a TV where you work. Avoid the temptation of turning on your favorite show by eliminating the medium. No TV – No temptation.

Instead of turning the TV on, consider listening to one of these playlists to help you focus.

Have you found other ways of staying productive while working from home? Share them in the comments!