Set a schedule. There are times when you are more motivated during the day and times when you are not. If you are not a morning person then perhaps your work schedule would be lunch until evening, or if you have family time at night then you may want to set your alarm to work earlier in the morning. Whatever schedule you set for yourself, keep it. You are your own boss so it is up to you to get to work on time!
Act like you are going to work. Make your bed, brush your hair, eat a good breakfast and get into work mode! Staying in those comfy pj's is not going to help keep your focus. Try not to work where you can be easily distracted such as in front of the TV or even worse, in bed.
Give yourself a break. Even when working from home you may find yourself worn out if you work long hours with out stopping. Breaks help to...well, "break up"your day. I've mentioned it before but a nice short walk or stretch can help renew and refocus you.
A great tool I recently came across to help with preventing Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) from working too hard and too long is called Workrave. Its a free application that frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.
Location Location Location. Set up your workspace in a bright open area that has a lot of natural light. Not only does it help with your electric bill but Feng Shui experts claim that natural light helps lift your mood and if your body doesn't get enough, you won't fully enjoy working no matter how much you enjoy your job.
A couple of live plants in your workspace helps to circulate fresh oxygen into the room. There have been studies that show plants are interrelated with productivity. Color's can also help set the mood for your work space. Bright colors may be distracting, however if you are a graphic designer working from home then bright colors may help fuel your creativity. If you have a high stress work at home job you should consider calming colors. To learn more about the importance colors play on moods you can visit here.
Pack a lunch-metaphorically. In other words, STAY OUTTA THE FRIDGE! If you got up and grabbed a snack anytime you felt like because "it's right there" then you will find yourself quickly gaining weight and losing productivity. Over eating can actually be counter-productive. Have you ever had the really tastey meal that was so good you didn't care how full you were, you were eating it all? Well filling up our stomachs means our bodies must work extra hard to metabolize that food. If our body is focusing its efforts on digesting, your brain cannot fully concentrate on working. I like to call this a "food coma" this is also why some people get tired after eating a full meal. Schedule your lunch time and make yourself a well balanced meal that won't fill you up. A couple of snack breaks during the day are ok, but make sure you don't end up eating foods just because they are there.
Stop Working. Separate your off time from your work time. Doing house work while trying to work will create distractions and the same thing with trying to work during family time. If you let the two merge together you may end up resenting one or both.
Stay connected. Just because you work from home doesn't give you a reason to loose touch with your friends. If you were a social butterfly before working at home, you will soon feel like a caged bird if you do not get out and test those wings. Social networking is not only a great tool for marketing your online business but for keeping in touch with your friends as well. Don't isolate yourself just because you work at home, everyone needs social interaction.
Reward yourself. When you worked at a normal day job you were rewarded for certain achievements or behaviors, correct? Incorporate the same mentality for your home business. If you meet a certain goal you had set, found a way to increase income or decrease costs, whatever the case-reward yourself. Some reward ideas could be not getting dressed for work one day, letting yourself have an early day, treating yourself to a lunch out, etc.
Make it interesting. Working at home may not always be the most interesting or fun job to have, to help break up the monotany of the day. If it is a nice day you could work outside if you have a laptop or can do so without much hassle. Listening to music can also help break up monotony. Any out of the box way you can think of to make your workday go faster will help keep you focused and keep those boring tasks seem not so bad.
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