Work-From-Home Productivity Tips

I don’t normally blog about work. Doing so can lead a whole host of problems that I just don’t want to have to deal with. However, I thought it was worth mentioning that, in just over a week, I will be starting a new job.

My new job will allow me to work from home at least some of the time.

With that in mind, I thought it might be a good idea to try and find some tips for maintaining productivity while working from home.

Here are a few of the tips that I found, as well as some notes about how I might be able to make them work in my own situation:

1. Define a workspace: The first tip that just about everyone recommends is that you need to create a workspace that is separate from the rest of your home. When you’re in this space, you’re in work mode. When you live in a small, one-bedroom apartment like I do this can be difficult. But, just as it is when I’m working on freelance projects, my workspace will be my computer desk. I may also create a second user account on my laptop to be used for work purposes, to strengthen the divide between work space and personal space.
2. Take regularly scheduled breaks: Another tip that turned up fairly often in my reading is the importance of taking regularly scheduled breaks. Because an at-home worker doesn’t have his day broken up by the occasional socialization that tends to happen in an office environment, it’s easy to get burnt out on the project at hand. By taking regular breaks your mind gets a quick rest, which helps to prevent the frustration and burnout that can be caused by sitting at your desk all day. My own ideas for acting on this are to try and take a 15 minute coffee break in the morning and again in the afternoon, and to actually close the laptop and move away from my workspace for lunch (even if that just means walking to the kitchen table).
3. Plan your day: Making a to-do list for the day is a big tip given to those who plan to work from home. Because there is more potential for distraction at home than in an office environment, planning your day and making sure that you finish all of the items on your to-do list will help to keep you on track. I already do this in my current job, so this will be an easy tip for me to follow.
4. Get out of the house: Because you work and live in the same place, you’ll sometimes need a change of scenery in order to get your brain firing on all cylinders. Identify places where you can get work done without distractions when you need to get out of the house. Coffee shops and libraries are good choices, especially if they provide free Wi-Fi. In my case, I’ll also have access to an office. If I’m finding that I need a change of scenery—or if I simply find that I’m getting too distracted at home on any given day—I can head into the office and get my work done there.

Those are just a few of the tips that I plan to employ in order to be productive on days when I’m working from home. Others include making sure that my desk (and my entire apartment, really) is kept free of clutter and making a point of getting out of the house at least once a day, whether that’s at lunchtime or at the end of the workday, so that I don’t go crazy from cabin fever.

And now, some things I’d love for you to share in the comments:

• Do you work from home?
• Have you ever worked from home in the past? If so, why did you give it up?
• Do you have any productivity tips that I didn’t cover in my post?

Note: The picture at the top of the post is not a picture of my setup. I snagged it from Flickr user Paladin27.