I love working from home, but it has its own unique challenges. The biggest one for me has been minimizing distractions from my very well-meaning husband. With both of us working from home, it's easy for him to pop his head into my office for a chat, which can agitate me when I'm hyper focused on work or in a meeting. Even a knock on the door and an "are you busy" can set me over the edge when I really need to get something done.
Fortunately, we found a solution in these $10 tap lights from Amazon.
I love them so much that I made a TikTok about it:
The tap light system is super simple: if the light on my door is red, it means I don't want any disruptions. Not even a knock on the door.
Lauren Savoie/Insider
I can't take full credit for the idea. I saw a $30 version of a "do not disturb" light Etsy, but I knew I could recreate it for cheaper.Slicky on Etsy retails for $29.99, but I knew I could find a cheaper solution.
Slicky/Etsy
I found this two pack of colored tap lights for $10 on Amazon.
Lauren Savoie/Insider
Each light is operated by three AAA batteries and comes with double sided tape so you can easily mount it.
Lauren Savoie/Insider
One tap turns on a white light, two taps puts it in color change mode, and three taps pauses the light on the color of your choice.
Lauren Savoie/Insider
We primarily use the red setting, but I could also see green and yellow being helpful to indicate "I'm free," and "I'm kind of busy," respectively.
Lauren Savoie/Insider
I thought my husband would think the light was silly, but he actually loves it. It clarifies my availability during the work day.
Lauren Savoie/Insider
I can see it being super helpful if you have a lot of housemates or young kiddos at home. Now if only it worked with nudgy pets...My cat Chowder doesn't care about the light.
