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Everyone has heard of all the glamorous reasons on why you should work from home. A few of the reasons are flexible hours, no long commutes, no office politics or a boss peeking over your shoulder. One thing that I would like to cover in this article is something you don't hear much about; productivity or the lack there of. While it is really nice to work from home and yes you have a very flexible schedule, some people get too comfortable and lose a great deal of productivity. In today's world you and I have an endless supply of distractions; some include children, spouses, email, your smart phone and social media sites. I have been working from home for awhile now and I would like to share with you my simple tips that allow me to be more productive. Create a Work Schedule If you work from home you know you can be flexible with your time. You can decide to work in the morning, afternoon or in the evening, I even know people that actually do work some during all three time periods. Whatever schedule you set, stick with it; also make sure others around you know these times. Have your own work space If you are sharing an office/room with an entire family and only have one computer in the home, is this your own work space? You have got to get a separate space away from your teenagers that are watching video's online and singing and dancing to the video. Make sure your work space is also clean and organized; papers and books all over the floor clutter not only the room but your mind. Get rid of the radio and T.V. The radio and T.V. are actually part of a huge marketing campaign; they pay marketers hundreds of thousands of dollars to come up with great marketing. What happens if you are working from home is that you fall prey to this great marketing. You may tell yourself you will just watch the last five minutes of a show and then you look up at the clock and two hours have passed by. Turn of the distractions, the things that do not help you drive your business. Get off the net You heard me right, get off the internet. While the majority of us do have a work from home internet business, you have to control what you do online. You have to look at your business and decide if what you are doing is a profit driver or profit drainer. If you are checking your social accounts, email, forums or blogs every 20 minutes, you could be wasting time. We all have the same amount of time every day, you cannot manage your time; you can only manage yourself and what you do with your time. Tell everyone around you Have you had a friend call you up and say "hey you don't have a real job, let's go play golf". Many people think since we work from home all we do is sit on our duff and eat bon-bons all day. Let everyone know up front what your schedule is, and ask them to respect you and your time. If you still have a friend that calls you all the time and doesn't get the hint, turn your phone off. Enjoy your life This is a big problem with so many new work from home individuals, they may spend 12-14 hours a day on the business. Just like a work schedule, make sure that you have scheduled time for you and the things you enjoy. If you enjoy sitting on the porch with your dog named Fred at night watching the sun go down, than do that. If you get so worked up while working from home, what is the difference from your past job or career that you were working 70+ hours a week. If you enjoy going to play a golf game once a week, schedule this with your friends, do not shut everyone out by hibernating in the house driving your business; if you do than you will end up despising your business and maybe lose some good friends. Get physical My final tip is to stay fit; an exercised body leads to a thoughtful mind. When you exercise at least three times a week, you will really see a huge difference in your abilities to get things done for your business. With a proper diet and exercise your brain will start producing you with more ideas and be able to learn and retain more information. Schedule exercise into your work day just as you would with your work duties. While these tips will not guarantee you better results in your business, they definitely cannot hinder it. Don't fall victim to the many distractions we have in our lives, manage yourself and what you do with your time. Wishing you everlasting success, Your friend and mentor, Robert David Strong For more tips on this subject and other online business tricks, head to my blog.
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