The best way to work from home...

Hi Mark,

I hear you - yes.... I go out.

Internet cafes and coffee shops - local hotels.

Luckily the country park near my home has a little coffee shop that I used to love sitting in and looking at the beautiful view - they added a wifi hotspot so that was nice.

I've also been volunteering at local ventures and they always seem to have an internet connection, so I can do some work and also be around to help them out.

If I do have days when I have no meetings or conference calls - I always get out of the house for lunch.

My usual routine means that I go for a swim or to the gym every morning anyway, but I still go out for lunch.

The benefit is that some of my offline clients prefer to have meetings over lunch - so most of my lunches get bought for me and I get extra work while I'm eating

I've had a few days where I just haven't left the house because I keep thinking "I'll just get this out of the way first" and the whole day goes by - but I try to avoid that if I remember

Andy

LIbraries often have WiFi and some pub and cafe's.... good for keeping the heating bill down in winter too!

S

i think the key issue is whether or not your single or married/partner and have a family? If you are then that's the benefit of working from home isn't it? your with them whereas if you were working in a conventional job especially a highly paid one you might rarely see them. You'd be a stranger to your own children

If you're single it's a bit more complicated, yes sitting in fornt of a computer can be lonely maybe get a partner or partners involved in your business and that way you can have regular meeting chats etc on the strategy etc. There is always a downside to any business and in IM this maybe one of them

I'm not stuck in my workspace all the time.

I go out with my friends, have fun, go to the gym etc. I had school, too, so that helped with the networking part.

Cheers for the posts people.

Andy - I like your idea about clients / lunch, seems like it's working good for you lol.

I hear what you are saying about work too with staying in and doing a bit more...and a bit more etc...I think it may be a good idea to try and have a rough routine of things to do (other than work) such as the gym...etc as you've mentioned

If I'm working from home, (offline as well as online) I tend to try and break up my day so I'm not sat here all day.

I guess I approach mine from a"housewife" point of view, (and I suspect many other women do as well).

For a start it's a matter of balance and realising it doesn't do anyone any good to sit at the computer for hours at a time without taking a break. You're well on the way to back problems and eye strain when going down that route.

For a start I have to ensure my house is tidy before I start working, otherwise that sink full of dishes etc is occupying my mind.

It's little things like getting up and putting a load of washing in, then getting up when it's finished and hanging it out. (I even give myself an half hours break to iron it occassionally).

Taking time to make some lunch or a coffee, then later walking up to the shop to get some semblence of exercise also works for me.

It will sound boring to some, but I would suspect that many women work in the same sort of way (even more so when they are looking after small children)

But to be honest I'm not sure I could work full time from home anyway, it can be a very isolating experience. I like going into the office and chatting with colleagues etc so I guess I have the best of both worlds

Kim

Edit

I've been working from home for both work and IM for most of this week and I'm getting bored now

Get a dog.

I take "Duffy" my cocker spaniel puppy out
about three times a day.

I get plenty of exercise & fresh air and I also
get lot's of time away from my desk.

John

Walking has done wonders for me.....It may sound cliche but it's true.

Besides the health benefits, it allows me to give my eyes a break (We do overwork them!) and more importantly, I can relax and often come up with solutions to problems that plague me at the desk.

I get out for lunch nearly everyday. I have also visited the library in order to work, and I find that doing this on occasion helps me focus.

I agree that if you sit in front of a computer all day it leads to back pain and bad eyes.

Cheers for all the responses :-)

I work from home alone, it can get kinda stink being single etc in front of the computer with no work mates. I would get others involved, find internet marketers in your city etc and get an office. Thats what I am sorting out at the moment and so far it is good times...

I'm somewhat of an anomaly I guess , I don't get bored at all. Sure, I like to get out, go for long runs, hang out with friends, go shopping, etc. But I have no problem sitting here working until my eyes start bleeding. Work on projects that you love and the boredom level goes way down.

Create a schedule. If I don't, then I tend to skip meals or work too much on one task etc.

Hi Mark,

You might want to alternate between working at home and the library.

One thing to keep in mind: why are you bored? If your work at home gig feels monotonous you might have picked the wrong one.

I love what I do and never become bored with it. I usually have to pull myself away from the laptop to get some sense of balance...or exercise. Maybe this is a temporary thing but if it isn't, look for something that excites you, that you would enjoy doing and boredom won't be a problem for you.

Ryan Biddulph

It can be tough to work from home, because it is challenging sometimes to separate the two. You've got to be disciplined and that's something I struggle with sometimes.

One thing that helps me is to start the day/week with a list of things I want to get done for that day. I've found personally when I have direction I do a lot better.

Matt

Hey Kim -

Iron is a 4 letter word!

Sometimes it's too easy for me to get distracted at home (cats, new kittens, other things to do and then the day is gone). I used to go to Starbucks, but it was too noisy and then when I had to give up caffeine, it was too hard to even walk in there, so the default became the library.

I'm lucky that I can walk to the library, so I start the day there just to get things rolling. I start by revising the articles I drafted the day before and then I go home where it's nice and quiet and I can think.

Because I have articles to fix when I get home, that gets things rolling and then I'm pretty much good to go.

My big challenge is this forum and a few others where it's way too easy to spend hours of time. I can't even count the number of times I've looked up and the whole day is gone, so now I'm trying to schedule my stints away from "work".

thanks for all the great responses people, strangely enough its 10.30 here in the UK and I'm sat here just finishing off work (even though I cud work some more) time to call it a day I think, and relax for a bit, after all it's friday night!

Cheers...and good night!