How to find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted

It’s been one of those weeks when deadlines are approaching and I really needed to buckle down and focus. If you have read some of my blog posts I always put a pre-req:

• A quiet place where you will not be interrupted

Well it dawned on me that I should finally share some of my best practices around this. In today’s connected and mobile world there is a ton of noise coming at us. On the same token there is just environmental real audible noise coming at us from our work space. Let’s start there.

Filtering out Work space Noise:

• First thing first! Clean your desk. There is not a worse distraction than a desk full of unpaid bills, old Subway sandwich bags and junk, take some time to clean up and create a peaceful work environment.
• If you have an office, close and lock the door and put a note that you are busy and when you will be available. Play some relaxing music to keep you focused.
• If you do not have an office I suggest to get a pair of noise canceling headphones such as the Bose Quite Comfort (and no I am not endorsed by Bose they just make awesome headphones!)
• If you work from home try the same suggestions as above but also make sure to communicate to your spouse, family or house mates that you need some time to finish up work. Also get any tasks and errands out of the way so they don’t haunt you.

Filtering out Social Media and Distractions

• Close your e-mail (I know it’s hard but they will live if you don’t respond right away!)
• Close instant messaging apps or at least put in busy mode
• Close any applications or windows on your desktop you don’t need
• Close Facebook and Twitter (Ya I said it!)
• Put the Phone down (You can play Pokemon Go after you finish your homework!)

Other tips for a productive session:

• Get something to drink and stay hydrated
• Eat for hopes sake, your brain doesn’t work on an empty stomach!
• If you get fatigued or frustrated, take a small break but remember to circle back to what you were doing

Hope this helps you to get “Locked in”, comment below with your experience or tweet me @vmtocloud

Also note, even in a perfect world there are going to be distractions out of our control. Just take them as they come and get back to it when you can. Best of luck!