They stamped our hands at the front door and then my kids would play games for at least an hour. They were safe — the checkout system there is like Ft. Knox — so I could work on projects and still see my kids from my table.

Not everyone can work with kids screaming in the background, music blasting from the machines and Chuck’s mechanical friends singing remakes of old classics. But a trip to the local arcade, noisy coffee shop or even a crowded airport, may improve your creativity.

In the Wall Street Journal article, “Bother me, I’m thinking,” Jonah Lehrer describes two studies by researchers at different universities. They found that distractions could help you be more creative. The studies also show that “People who daydream more are also better at generating new ideas.”

These results may not to apply to everyone, but for some, being distracted can be a good thing.

I have a few project deadlines coming up but my kids outgrew Chuck E. Cheese years ago. I do have a niece, though, who loves to go there.

Can you work with the TV on or with music playing in the background? Or do you have to work in a home office that’s perfectly quiet?

Here’s the deal: just because we’re working from home doesn’t mean that we’re available to wait for repair calls, UPS deliveries, or to pick up a friend’s kids from school when that friend can’t leave work.  Of course when it’s an emergency, there’s no question whether you should help out. But there’s a point where others can take advantage of you.

One woman in Zaslow’s article who was asked constantly for help from friends and neighbors, turned errand requests into a job.  She works part-time for a new online company called taskrabbit, that matches “senders” (people who need someone to do an errand for them) with “runners” (people who will handle the errand).  Now she’s paid for her time.

The bottom line is that someone who works from home is no different from her corporate counterpart except for having a more flexible schedule, dressing casually (if at all) and being available to handle last-minute emergencies.  She also has the freedom to say no to requests for favors when she’s doing what the person asking for the favor is doing, which is working.

Sue Shellenbarger, author, writer and the Wall Street Journal’s Work & Family columnist did the near-impossible…she tried three systems in three weeks.  She made some interesting discoveries.

• Getting things done (GTD) helped her see clearly what next steps she needed to take.  You take the projects and tasks you have in your mind and organize them in one place.

• The Pomodoro Technique. You work in spurts using a nifty tomato-shaped timer. You can use any timer but Shellenbarger opted to invest in the tomato.  I would have too. This system showed her where she was wasting time.

• FranklinCovey’s Focus. This system uses a “time matrix” that helps you figure out which tasks are important, urgent and truly urgent.

Shellenbarger’s bottom line: each planner offers something different and she plans to use parts of each method/system to plan her days.

My bottom line: there’s no one-size-fits-all planning system out there.  You’ll have to try on a few planners until you find one that fits.