Eight Things That Try To Distract Me At Work...and FAIL

Eight of them - not counting the five newborn puppies. They frolic and bark and generally play around on their own in ways that make me sometimes look up and for just one second consider joining in. But I don't. I ensure they stay on their side of the glass door and I stay on mine otherwise there will be no dog food.

I only turn it on using the iPad on the side during eating breaks. Thankfully, there is just not enough entertainment on there to make me lose my mind enough to risk losing my salary.

And that's just because I sensibly surround my laptop with the tea flask and the snacks I need to run me through the day. Except when it's lunch time. There, the fridge wins hands down on most days.

Like the fridge, this archaic device of home living just can't get me after the breakfast hour has passed.

This one only shines brightest on Friday afternoons. Strictly on Friday afternoons when work is totally done.

As a child growing up I could not understand how adults got work done when they had the means and ability to buy and own novels. Now I do. I am surrounded by them but can actually go a few hours at a time without turning their pages, and I stick to one at a time till I have finished it. I will survive.

You know the ones - Group WhatsApp messages discussing the same 'trendy' video clip released this morning; emails from all manner of persons and scammers; the messages following phone calls made by hapless people who really should know that I work mostly online and from home. I just select very carefully which ones I will pay attention to, and it works.

These always show up the minute I put my head down off work. Going right back to, 'Where would I have been right now if I had accepted the other job offer way back then...?' and others. The trick is not to allow any day dreaming to commence - so if a particular task becomes boring then I have to stop and refresh.