Home is a strange place. At times, it bores you to the hilt, and at others, it keeps you horribly engaged giving you no time to think. Now, if you choose to be a home-based transcriptionist, you are probably looking at being comfortable apart from enjoying the other benefits of home-based work. However, too much comfort can make you complacent and even lose focus. Distractions are present in every nook and corner of your home. It could a phone call, the television, the internet, the kitchen, your kids, neighbours, and several other sights and sounds from inside and outside your home.

In an office, you are compelled to finish work within a given time, but at home, you allow yourself the flexibility of raiding your fridge, surfing channels, and checking latest updates on the networking sites. As home-based medical transcriptionist, you have to be really careful not to be carried away by distractions. Let’s look at ways you can avoid being distracted during work.

• Don’t attend to domestic chores when you are working. Let the kitchen sink sulk with a heap of utensils in it. Don’t prioritize anything else over your work.
• Make a work routine and stick to it. Inform everyone at home about your working hours and ask them not to disturb you.
• Put your phone on answering mode. You can check your messages when you take a logical break. Make sure your business phone is active though.
• Don’t prolong your breaks for a sneak peak into the latest issue of your favoritism magazine. Prolonging breaks can disturb the flow of work.
• Don’t switch on the television during your working hours. If you have your favorite show coming during your working hours, either record it to watch later, or adjust your work hours so that you are done with your work when your show starts. Or, just change your taste!
• Inform your family, friends, and neighbors about your work timings and tell them that you will be unavailable during that time.
• Don’t make personal calls during your work hours. You may be tempted to call family and friends, but your calls may get extended for a long time, disrupting your routine. If talking to loved ones keeps you motivates, call them but limit your calls to a few minutes.
• Don’t get online unless your work demands. When you are online, stay away from networking sites.

You will know what causes distractions for you. Avoid them at all costs. I have discovered the television becomes my enemy whenever I work from home. I have vowed that I will turn it on only when I have finished work, everyday, starting today. Wish me luck.