Productivity Question: Work from Home or Office?

My mind must be out of whack today: just had to correct 5 typos in the above paragraph!

It varies for me. Sometimes I get more done at home but sometimes I start to feel that closterphobic feeling from working at home to long. Changing up my routine works best for me.

office is definitely the best place to be note productive. If you are at home your TV, bed or even your pal might be an object of distraction.

It really depends on the environment. If you have a private room at your room (not the bed room) where nobody will disturb you then that would be fine. However if there will be distraction such TV , Kids etc. then I would prefer to have a separate office.

Of course it is not recommended when you are just starting out but in terms of productivity a separate office is better since you have a distinction that office = work, home = family.

Have laptop (and mobile broadband) will travel...

It doesn't matter to me and makes no difference.

I don't like background noise or distraction, so as long as I'm in a room where I can close the door I don't mind if it's at home or away from home.

Home is handy when it's mealtime though – you can just easily get some food et cetera.

To keep myself productive: I use a time management system which I have moulded to be exactly what I want.

That means that although I build in a bit of time for relaxation and fun: I have a list of tasks I need to do today, and also those I need to do tomorrow, and also those for this week… etc. But the point is, I know exactly where to look to find my next task to do.

Also, I make sure I write EVERYTHING down so I am not relying on my memory. Relying on your memory has been proven to cause stress (in the back of your mind, you think you might have forgotten something).

If you find yourself being drawn off by distractions – for example, checking Facebook, checking email too often, playing games, and so on then I recommend the Pomodoro technique. In this, you work for 25 minutes in a concentrated fashion and then have five minutes off. This can help you get tons more done. It might surprise you just how much it helps your motivation.

If you use Kanbanflow - which I recommend as it's brilliant for putting your tasks into – that has a built-in Pomodoro timer. The free version is fine.

Good luck with your productivity!

Malc

I will NEVER have an office.

The reason I started an "online business" was so that I could work from anywhere I wanted.

The couch, a coffee shop, the beach and so on.

I never understood the whole "productivity/distraction" debate. If you haven't got enough "self control" to know when it's time to sit down and actually get stuff done, maybe its time to get a "traditional" 9-5 structured job.

If I ever find myself unable to concentrate on something, that tells me that

a) It's not really that important.
b) It's time for a break, take the day off.
c) Thank god for outsourcing.

In regards to productivity specifically, I've found I work better (and get more stuff done) between 1AM - 3AM.

One of my challenges from working at home is my family still has issues accepting that when I am working it's "work time" and that space is required..

Ideally I'd rather work from another location, but it's just not worth the time/investment for me..

It depends of the work. I prefer to work from home, cause I have a little child and I want to walk with him some hours. But sometimes it is demotivating and I am getting lazy!

Its always difficult to get the balance wright, work and home life.
I would always say get a small office (away from home) as long as you're able to afford it.
However, if your starting up then I would say, work from home, this will save you a lot of money if your on a tight budget.
Hope this helps

It's seems like it really depends on the person and the distractions. For example, I'm much more productive at home, but many people are more productive at the office. But I do have an office with staff that I go into every day.

Some great answers!

I had the option to take up space in other rooms (below the third) but we have the look of them just the way we like. To plop in 80's video game machines, pool table, Xbox, etc, would drive me up the wall. I got a deal on some office space but the place is so freaking quiet and sterile. May just bung my stuff in a garage and laptop-it in a quiet room at home. There is another problem, too. Under another persona, I write horror. Mind plays some pretty weird tricks in this place at night!! (Good source material, bad sanity material!)

I live alone and work from home so it';s a no brainer for me. I just have to remind myself to take breaks as it is easy to spend hours online without rest.

I work from home and manage to be fairly productive while the kids are at school and once they've gone to bed in the evenings. I work strange hours, but it's from the comfort of my own home and I get to pick when and where I want to work, so it isn't too bad of a deal.

I started working from home in order to get away from having to go to work in an office. I don't plan on going back anytime soon...

I do work at home at my local library and in a coffee shop.

I've been productive in them all.

Home can be the mosts frustrating though, living with 3 others that don't do anything but screw around when they are not in work just doesn't workout sometimes. lolz

I am just as productive in both. However, the home office wins hands down for me as long as it is a separate dedicated area. There are so many advantages of working at home for me I would dread having to rent office space again. I don't have children so that makes a difference. Also I get dressed and "act" like I am going to work. The working in your pajamas, undies, in front of the TV and such would never work for me.

I dress like I"m going into the office, even when I work from home (which is most of the time). This one thing increased my focus & productivity quite a bit. Simple, effective...and snazzy!

I have both, I am currently a full time employee in a cubefarm and I am a part time entrepreneur online.

So, I go to my office for the main income stream and work on my couch for my home business. I must say though, there are time where I plug into my home office desk and my extended desktop and really get some hard heavy lifting work done!

Thanks!

Jeremiah

Time does fly when you're having fun!

About five years ago I lived on a small cul-de-sac. All my neighbors thought I was a drug addict because I was up all night five or six nights a week building landing pages and setting up Adwords campaigns.

The reason why I started doing IM is so that I would eventually be able to work anywhere provided I had an internet connection.

Having said that, some places are more distracting than others, so what I do when I find myself drifting is put on some headphones and play high tempo, up beat music to completely block my surroundings and get my gears working at the same time.

It's important for me that the music doesn't have any words or lyrics, so I don't get caught up in a sing along.

I like working from home but, sometimes I do like to get out of the house, just to get some sunlight and interact with people a little bit.

I'm more productive at home. Doesn't take me more than 1 hour to do my free marketing techniques. The rest of the day i let my ads do the work. Then i just chill. Soon enough i'll be able to run this thing through my phone.

Exactly the same here! I thought it was just me... I had an office for a year, honestly I was hardly ever there because I never managed to get any work done.

The only reason I bought it was because at the time I hired somebody else to work with me, and obviously working from my house in that respect was a little unprofessional.

Got rid of it about 3 months ago but I was hardly there.

Office is more productive for me as I am easily distracted and drawn in by the other stuff available to do at home. I also have to use I have spent most of my life in corporate jobs so I may be a programmed bot too. I also use RescueTime to keep me from getting distracted doing too much time web surfing not related to my objectives!

I work from home and love it more than anything...except for when this happens...

Personally I find it to be a challenge being really productive at home as I've got a really young daughter. With that said, when working at home, one's got to figure out how to make it work by knowing your productive hours, when you're least distracted, etc.

I have worked from home for the past 8 years, but it was a challenge at first. Ultimately, I found that I had to dedicate a room of my house to just work. After I am done for the day, I shut the door and work ends. Otherwise, I will spend all night working and never actually live life.

An office just adds more expenses and travel, but working from home is not for everyone.

I am more productive in office than at home as there are lots of disturbance in home.

Good news is . . . I'm back to my usual office. Wa-hey!

GRM

I think it depends entirely on the individual. Where you are you need a quiet environment to concentrate in.

The reason why I started IM in the first place was to never have to go to an office, so I don't need I'll ever need this. When I set my mind to something my concentration is good enough until it's done. I go to the gym every day for distraction and it helps me feel great in general. Also, outsourcing of tasks and writing down to do lists is always a good idea to boost your motivation!

This is a question I have thought about a lot over the years. It all started for me at school when I had to study for exams and such. I wondered where I would be able to work most efficiently. What it boiled down to for me was distractions and a sense of purpose in the space I was in.

I could never work well in the same space that I would do recreational activities such as in the same room as a game console or TV. Or even in the same room that had a comfy chair that I would just chill and read a book in or whatever. I think it is because in my mind those spaces where associated with non work related things. I needed a space where if I was in it my brain knew, in no uncertain terms that I was here to work, and work I would.

This has carried forward for me to all walks of life. I have no preference as far as working at home or in an office, although home is obviously more convenient. The one thing would be if I do work at home it would need to be in a specific office that was used only for the purpose of getting work done. If that is not possible I have to work in an office elsewhere.

This may be extreme and I assume most people wont be as bad as me in this regard but I am very easily distracted and can get extremely lazy in the right settings so I need a very strict guideline to keep me as efficient and productive as possible!

That's quite a mix of answers! It definitely makes sense for each person to figure out his/her comfort zone. Some like the freedom of staying at home or working from wherever they feel like, while others like the discipline and order that an office routine brings.
@OP: Since your reaction to being back in your usual work space is "Wa-hey!", I'm guessing that's your comfort zone!

I work at the beach drinking booze all day. Sometimes I work on my private jet or helicopter as well.
Can't forget about the island I bought with the mansion and ferraris

I guess real marketers work at real places. I created a similar thread here: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...rk-office.html asking the exact same question.

Office works the bes for me