If you spend a lot of your day in your office, you are probably not as effective as you think. Most home and business offices allow us to become easily distracted as soon as we sit down, especially if they are reserved for multiple purposes, business projects, meetings, administration, etc. Most managers, business owners and entrepreneurs aren't even aware of the distractions because they are so used to dealing with them, but dealing with them costs productivity and emotional cycles.

Something to ponder:

(1) Your office is full of mental noise including future ideas you want to develop and tasks you have yet to complete. For example, you notice a bill you have to pay or an appointments you have to set up, or you are distracted by your dog barking outside your door. Even though you agree mentally to manage these distractions, you still lose your focus on the real reason you there, to work on a specific project or task.

(2) None of us can do more than a single task at peak performance. There is plenty of research to back this up, including this Newsweek article. Singled minded is best according to research. Yes, most entrepreneurs are smitten with the "shiny object syndrome" which means pay attention to whatever object you notice at that moment in time? Another reason to not work in a distraction rich environment. I do know people that create specific areas in their office for projects, bill paying and administration and other targeted themes, but most of us don't.

My solution is to find a distraction free environment. I visit CoSpace (a Co-working facility in North Austin that allows me focus and thrive) and coffee shops away from home such as Scooters Coffee on William Cannon. They both allow me to park myself, focus on whatever I bring and is in front of me, and to completely clean up prior to leaving. I do my best work in such environments even without trying too hard. The advantage with CoSpace is that there is less noise and they provide office support including printers, quiet areas, meeting rooms.

For Entrepreneurs, offices are great for administration, but not so wonderful for focused work.... unless they are void of distractions.