But with freedom comes responsibility. What if you spend all day caught up in home affairs? Or you’re sitting there in your pyjamas with no-one to check on you and you find you’re not getting much done at all?

Part 8/8: Telecommuting: How To Increase Productivity From Your Couch

1. Create a divide between home and work
   It can make a world of difference to have a separate work space. Ideally, you have an office or studio at home or in the neighbourhood. Failing that, just a room with a door you can close. If none of these things is available to you, you can always buy a Chinese screen. Et voilà – instant office.
2. Put on your work clothes
   Don’t keep running around in your pyjamas! Dress like you would at work. Because you know what? You actually are. The clothes bring you in the right mood to work, and it’s a lot less embarassing when your colleague pays you an unexpected visit.
3. Come on time
   So you don’t need to do traffic jams – enjoy that extra cup of coffee! At the same time, respect the working hours that you’ve set out for yourself. If not, you could end up being one of those people that loafs around all day and then when there’s fun to be had, ‘has to finish something’. Shame!
4. Don’t watch TV
   Don’t go to the movies, or the launderette. You’re working, so work. Of course, be sure to take a well-deserved break now and again and remind yourself how great it is to work from home.
5. Go out to lunch
   Working from home is liberating but also isolating. Keep in touch with your friends and colleagues, forge new connections and connect to the world by going out to lunch. Better yet, go to business networking lunches!
6. Have someone to answer to
   It’s easier to work when there’s someone watching and when we need to justify our time. So get one of these mechanisms to work for you (without making it disagreeable). Ask on of your colleagues or friends to check on you.

That’s the end of this series of articles on productivity! I hope your work and life have taken a spectacular new turn because of them. If not, maybe you picked out just one element that you’ve been able to use at work to be faster, more efficient and effective.

Here’s the other articles again:

1. 6 Surprising Causes Of Procrastination
2. How To Overcome Procrastination – RIGHT NOW
3. The One And Only Way To Increase Productivity
4. 10 Simple Ways To Improve Productivity Right Now
5. How To Set Priorities – Stephen Covey’s Time Management Grid Revealed
6. How To Manage E-mail Overload In 3 Easy Steps
7. Managing Email Overload: 8 More Fast And Easy Techniques

If you have any feedback, please let me know!