Do you ever have days when the little distractions in life seem to be fighting to keep you from getting any work done? Here are some suggestions to help you alleviate some of the most common distractions people face when working from home.

If you have young children underfoot throughout the day, work during nap times and after the children have gone to bed. You can hire a teen aged mother's helper to come in for a few hours each day, or go all out and hire a Nanny. Even 10 hours a week of quiet, uninterrupted time will help you drive your home business forward.

Continuously checking your emails can be another major distraction. Replying, deleting and managing emails is a drain on your time and produces no real results. I recommend checking your emails no more than 2 times a day, and deleting unwanted emails only once a day, in the evening. You will be surprised how much time this will free up for you to do more important tasks.

Surfing the net can become a serious time waster. If you are looking for specific information, find what you need quickly and then get out. Sign yourself off of messenger services, and by all means stay away from chat rooms, forums and blogs until you have completed your work for the day.

Use a voice mail service to take your phone calls if you don't wish to talk on the phone. For quiet time, be sure to turn off your ringer so you won't be distracted. Set aside a specific block of time to call contacts and leads, follow up and get back with people who have called you. Stick to your plan.

Running errands can be done at specific times during the week, such as on Wednesdays between 1 and 3. Going out for just one errand 2 to 4 times a week is a waste of energy, time and gas. Get it all done in one afternoon and don't worry about it for the rest of the week.

Housework isn't everyone's favorite activity. If you avoid it, you'll get overwhelmed. If you are spending too much time on it, you have little time for your business and family. To combat this issue, you can delegate some of the responsibility to other family members. You can also hire a cleaning service to assist you with the chores that you really dislike doing. Break up the chores by doing 15 minutes worth of cleaning several times a day. This has the added benefit of getting you up out of your desk chair and moving.