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Poll: Do you get distracted by chores when working at home? Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
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This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you get distracted by chores when working at home?".
This poll was originally submitted by Hermann
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more informat... See more This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you get distracted by chores when working at home?".
This poll was originally submitted by Hermann
View the poll here
A forum topic will appear each time a new poll is run. For more information, see: http://proz.com/topic/33629 ▲ Collapse
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| I do different thigs a the same time | Feb 12, 2007 |
I'm not distracted by house chores at all, but for my other responsibilities as a university teacher.
I have to do a lot of things at the same time. If not, I can hardly get my works done. For me, it is almost impossible to concentrate on only one thing.
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Sanmar
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:40
Dutch to English
| Male / female replies | Feb 12, 2007 |
It will be interesting to find out whether women answer this question with frequently/constantly more often than men! Personally, I find it hard to ignore the washing up/washing etc. and have to constantly remind myself that I wouldn't worry about it until the evening if I worked in an office somewhere else.
[Edited at 2007-02-12 17:59]
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Amy Duncan (X) 
Brazil
Local time: 20:40
Portuguese to English
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| Not a distraction | Feb 12, 2007 |
I picked "other" because I don't find chores a distraction. I use them as a way to take a break from my work, so I actually see them as something enjoyable! Hard to believe, I know, but true...
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neilmac
Spain
Local time: 01:40
Spanish to English
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| Distracted sounds rather negative to me... | Feb 12, 2007 |
... what I tend to do is fit in the chores like ironing, washing/up, dusting, gardening, taking out the trash, cooking etc, so that they act as a break from the PC screen (the recommendation is to spend no longer than 20 minutes at a a time in front of the screen). A ten-minute walk round the block with the dog also gives me time to refresh my eyes, back, lungs, etc.
So the chores become a useful part of the homeworking lifestyle - as well as an excuse to take a break, since I am capable o... See more ... what I tend to do is fit in the chores like ironing, washing/up, dusting, gardening, taking out the trash, cooking etc, so that they act as a break from the PC screen (the recommendation is to spend no longer than 20 minutes at a a time in front of the screen). A ten-minute walk round the block with the dog also gives me time to refresh my eyes, back, lungs, etc.
So the chores become a useful part of the homeworking lifestyle - as well as an excuse to take a break, since I am capable of spending several hours into the night working without stopping if I have a deadline...
Before I worked from home, many of these things had to be left to pile up until the weekend (In Spain we often get home after 10 pm)... ▲ Collapse
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| Just like Amy and neilmac, | Feb 12, 2007 |
it's not that I get distracted, but rather that I use them to take a 5-10 minutes break. I know in advance what I'll do "for the house" every day, roughly calculating this amount accordingly to how much work I have on that particular day.
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Aurora Humarán (X)
Argentina
Local time: 20:40
English to Spanish
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Amy Duncan wrote: I picked "other" because I don't find chores a distraction. I use them as a way to take a break from my work, so I actually see them as something enjoyable! Hard to believe, I know, but true...
Same here! The only difference is that I don't see them as something enjoyable, instead I 'use' them to mark pauses and leave the PC (e.g. after page number 4, I will water the plants).
If I had a fair at home who washed, did the shopping and all the things I do at home (I exclude cooking because I don't cook, when I mean I am a freelancer... I mean it ), I would find something to do, but something not intellectual at all.
I have somebody who comes a couple of times a week to help with the house, so those days my pauses are different, but I always try to find some easy tasks to prevent my brain from working all the time. (It's as if we were always on a Formula 1 car)
Au
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Els Spin
Netherlands
Local time: 01:40
Dutch to English
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That's just my problem: I can fully concentrate to such an extent, that I am completely oblivious to anything around me.
On the one hand, that is a good thing: my work doesn't suffer. But on the other hand, my housework does!
I do hope I'm not the only one whose home is in complete chaos when business is booming!
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Clara Duarte
Portugal
Local time: 00:40
English to Portuguese
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| The maid is distracting! | Feb 13, 2007 |
A maid comes once a week to do some cleaning and ironing, which my mother especially hates, so tomorrow she'll be distracting me from lunch time until around 6 PM. She's quite annoying because she is always hitting the vaccum cleaner against the walls and such. Also, she has the habit of using my bathroom towels to clean and then she puts all the wet towels in the laundry basket and doesn't put the laundry in the washer so all the laundry gets wet and stinky.
We have already locked... See more A maid comes once a week to do some cleaning and ironing, which my mother especially hates, so tomorrow she'll be distracting me from lunch time until around 6 PM. She's quite annoying because she is always hitting the vaccum cleaner against the walls and such. Also, she has the habit of using my bathroom towels to clean and then she puts all the wet towels in the laundry basket and doesn't put the laundry in the washer so all the laundry gets wet and stinky.
We have already locked the towel cabinet but then she found other towels in a drawer!
My chores include feeding the pets. I use that excuse to get away from the computer when I'm in need of a deserved break. ▲ Collapse
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Nicole Schnell
United States
Local time: 16:40
English to German
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In memoriam | Sometimes, when schedules are clashing | Feb 13, 2007 |
E.g., when I promised to fix some nice and elaborate dinner for the evening. However, I am on the go and my hands are flying over the keyboard and I am in the middle of breaking all records... then I hear the key in door and, darn!, I have to drop all work because I PROMISED to cook, and so on...
Sometimes I wish a had a clone.
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Steven Capsuto
United States
Local time: 19:40
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
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| Not many chores to do | Feb 13, 2007 |
The nice thing about apartment living is there's relatively little to clean.
Aside from the attention necesary to keep the bathroom from developing into an independent ecosystem, tidying up mostly occurs if I know company is coming.
Otherwise, I focus on other things, including work, family, friends, and going for long walks.
I keep telling myself that cleaning is probably a very dangerous pursuit anyway, so I'd rather not risk it.  ... See more The nice thing about apartment living is there's relatively little to clean.
Aside from the attention necesary to keep the bathroom from developing into an independent ecosystem, tidying up mostly occurs if I know company is coming.
Otherwise, I focus on other things, including work, family, friends, and going for long walks.
I keep telling myself that cleaning is probably a very dangerous pursuit anyway, so I'd rather not risk it.
[Edited at 2007-02-13 07:37] ▲ Collapse
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| The dogs remind me | Feb 13, 2007 |
... that it's time to feed and walk them. I go into alpha state when I'm translating and lose track of time, but then I will feel a nose gently tapping my thigh and I know I have to get moving.
So it's not that the chores distract me but rather that the beneficiaries remind me when one of their entitlements is due.
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| No, my work distracts me from the chores! | Feb 13, 2007 |
I am another with a chaotic house.
I spend my breaks getting right out of the house for a few minutes while my coffee warms up in the microwave! Then I surf this site and others while I drink it...
In the northern winter I get seriously depressed if I try to get my exercise by cleaning the house etc. instead of going OUT where I can see the sky and get some light and air. Opening the big window by my desk is not the same - I just get cold feet from the draught and look ... See more I am another with a chaotic house.
I spend my breaks getting right out of the house for a few minutes while my coffee warms up in the microwave! Then I surf this site and others while I drink it...
In the northern winter I get seriously depressed if I try to get my exercise by cleaning the house etc. instead of going OUT where I can see the sky and get some light and air. Opening the big window by my desk is not the same - I just get cold feet from the draught and look at the computer, not the sky
But now we get 2½ hours more daylight per day than at Christmas. Soon I can start hanging the washing outside, and in a month we will have 12 hours of real daylight - five hours more than at Christmas!
Then we can talk about household chores. That's why it's called Spring Cleaning, folks! I still think housework is a bore, but then I can fit it in and get some light and air in the evening.
Why not do housework in the evening in winter? With my husband in the way, the family on the phone, and when I need to relax if I'm not working late at the computer or invoicing...?
Well, it does NOT happen, that's for sure!
Happy translating!
[Edited at 2007-02-13 23:19] ▲ Collapse
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vixen
Greece
Local time: 02:40
English to Dutch
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I get distracted by chores when I want to be, e.g. when I have just finished a translation and dread starting on yet another one right away. But that usually means I have to catch up in the evenings...
For the most part I'm happily ignoring the chaos at home, especially when business is booming, just like a few of my colleagues. I'm glad I'm not alone in this.
Quite often, I find myself ironing one (and only one!) of my husband's shirts right before going to bed, so tha... See more I get distracted by chores when I want to be, e.g. when I have just finished a translation and dread starting on yet another one right away. But that usually means I have to catch up in the evenings...
For the most part I'm happily ignoring the chaos at home, especially when business is booming, just like a few of my colleagues. I'm glad I'm not alone in this.
Quite often, I find myself ironing one (and only one!) of my husband's shirts right before going to bed, so that he has a clean shirt to wear the next day. Also, I often put the laundry in the machine in the morning or afternoon, intending to hang it up during one of my breaks, only to find out just before going to bed that I have once again forgotten to do so. ▲ Collapse
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Angela Dickson (X)
United Kingdom
Local time: 00:40
French to English
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| Add me to the list... | Feb 13, 2007 |
... of those with chaotic houses. Well, the public areas are OK, because my partner has a low tolerance of mess there. But I can happily function in what appears to be complete chaos, because I generally know where things are. I do make an exception for the kitchen, though, and usually keep that reasonably clean.
And in our house, he/she who wants flat clothes does some ironing. Which generally means that it doesn't get done!
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