How to be productive when working from home?

Working from home can be the best thing ever, you can write emails from your laptop while lying in bed, create content while eating your lunch on the patio or even work from a nearby cafe instead!

Although, once the 9 to 5 veil is lifted, the seemingly endless options on how to work can be rather daunting and stifling to say the least. Will I work through the night? Early in the morning? Or both (in my case)? Trying to get your routine down pat can be the hardest thing to do as a small business owner. The constant juggle of trying to do everything and then some can be tiring.

Here are my tips to finding the perfect home work environment:

• Have an area in your house that you can close off to the rest of your living areas and dedicate to working space only. That way you can allocate yourself work times, as you will effectively be at "the office".
• If something is feeling a little bit off for some reason or another, you can't get into the mood for working, try something a little different. How about going for a walk? Or making yourself something more extravagant for lunch even if it is just a nice smoothie instead of a salad?
• My last post raised an important point, as you are now working from home it is very easy to fall into a sluggish trap of only venturing from your chair for food and drink. Make it a daily habit to take your dog for a walk, go for a run or pop on a yoga dvd. This is something I really need to work on myself, as I could go for days of typing, sleep, typing, sleep, eat without much else and be incredibly exhausted by the end of it.
• Again, if you are feeling a little lack lustre or need a change of scenery try working from a local cafe. Every town has a few lovely ones, as long as you buy enough chais I'm sure the owner won't mind you taking up some space to type for an hour or so.
• And if all else fails, don't force yourself to do anything. Forcing will make you resentful and you will ultimately produce rubbish. Have an hour or two off and see if you feel chirpier, if not give yourself a day and then chin up. Yes that sounds a little harsh, but I think working for yourself is difficult and sometimes it is best to work your way through periods of the doldrums, your business will be all the better for it!

Now if only I could work from a Parisian cafe..