While working on a article about productivity , I stumbled upon this one and it had the majority of the same content I was about to write! Its amazing how things work out like that accidentally. After reading Dave Cheong’s list, I have the following to add and emphasize, for a home office:
Background Distractions
Do you do better with or without? Personally, in my case, I can’t focus while a TV is blasting. I have to resort to a good pair of headphones (Sony MDR-V6 if you must know) that drown out the noise. While music can break my concentration, if its filled with lyrics, I listen to the online radio stations soma.fm and di.fm. They have some good Ambient, and uplifting Electronica. Played at a low volume, it doesn’t disturb my thinking process. Its almost like having a pair of noise canceling headphones, with out the Bose price(my saying for them- if their no mids or lows, it must be Bose, but thats for another time)
Lights that Kill
If your at home, do you want bright, overhead florescent lighting like a cube farm at work? These lights can cause headaches, causing yourself to get away often. Consider using a good desk lamp based upon other types. Ikea’s website has a good basic primer on lighting for any room. Reduce glare to the monitor also, by not having large, or daylight light sources behind your back, facing towards the monitor. Try to place a monitor beside, or opposite in front. If not, use Curtains or turn off the offending light.
Chair up to par?
Nothing worth doing well at a desk with a lousy chair. While the Dave article touches this, I just have to bring it up again. It may cost upwards of 150 dollars or more to remedy, but your back, your arms, and your butt, will thank you. Buy the best you can afford at this time. A plus – an ability to stay focused without being in pain or being uncomfortable, thus taking frequent breaks.
Onto your computer itself…
Leave the widgets and notifications off.
You don’t need to be aware of a website update(including mine), new e-mails, the weather outside, the movie show times and your CPU/memory utilization all the time. Set them aside, turn them on later, when your bored, or unimportant things are pressing.
Use a virtual desktop manager
If you have a Linux box, or the program, Spaces on OS X(Leopard), instead of filling one window up full of applications, balance them out over several desktops. Place each app you need open(for example a web browser, or two, Word, and Excel) on a different “screen” or “space”. Close what your not using thought to save memory. For Window, their are shareware Virtual desktop programs, but I never used any of them(if you know of a good one, please leave a comment!). While you can minimize programs, its just not the same as holding a hotkey and switching between windows quickly.
Use a theme/Background that stimulates thoughts, alertness, etc.
While applications will block out your background most of the time, you can still stimulate feelings by your color schemes. Most backgrounds are calm in nature by using blues and green tones. Try seeing if your more alert by using reds, yellows, and orange tones. See what effect it has on you.
Try out some of these ideas, and see if you get more done!
