http://www.screenflicker.com/b.....oderation/

I read all the comments and I must say they’re a very big help to me. I’m going to start putting so of these tips into action and see how they work for me.

Thanks,
Justin.

Colleen suggested that I should visit you, because I left the corporate world in 2001 and have been writing about my post-corporate adventures since 2003.

I have written many posts about creating a micro-business and doing what you love. I have also published an unconventional guide to surviving corporate employment and starting your own business.

My book, Danger Quicksand – Have A Nice Day, is available as a free download and as a paperback. Check it out at http://bentcrowpress.com

Good luck!

I do find that enforcing a luch break helps. Take that full 30mins or an hour and have it as yours…

Don’t answer the phone etc, sit in the lounge or where ever is not connected with work and switch off.

After reading the comment about personal and biz computers, I’m seriously thinking about moving my News Reader and prehaps some other stuff onto another machine.

I don’t work from home, but I have heard that you must treat every day like it is a work day. Wake up at 7:30am, take a shower, get dressed in a reasonable formal fashion (not butt naked with a pair of boxers on only), and then begin your work.

Apparently, this helps your productivity. I personally don’t have experience with this as I have a full time job I travel to, but it might be worth a shot.

Find a networking group, social group or someplace where you can meet familiar faces. You lose the collective knowledge of the group and someone to celebrate with when you accomplish something worth celebrating. Meet up with friends to do things outside of work. You don’t want to respond to “so what have you been up to lately” with “work work work”.

Best of luck,

What does Keith say?

* Get out of bed, and go to sleep, at the same time every day.
* Stick to regular working hours, whatever hours work best for you.
* Use a rewards system if you have to, ie – “I will spend 1 hour on this document, and then I get to answer two personal emails or check one RSS feed.” Works wonders if you find you’re flagging and bored.
* Give yourself at least half hour for lunch away from your computer, and at least one coffee break. One of the best things about working from home is being able to go sit on your balcony/back deck/frontyard, whatever, and enjoy the sun. Make the most of this unique advantage, it’s a big plus over working in an office.
* If you’re the kind of person who likes to use their PC for fun after work, try and buy another PC just for work if you can possibly afford it. Put it at another desk, in another room if you have one, and make that your work area. Sitting at one PC all day for work, and then spending the rest of the night on the same PC in the same spot for play, is tiring and demoralising (in my experience anyway).
* If you’re having trouble switching off at the end of your work day, try this trick. Put your jacket on, grab your keys and bag, go outside and lock the door. Take a little walk down your street, or drive round the block if you have a car. Walk back to your house, unlock the door, go in, put your bag down, take your jacket off, dump your keys. Psychologically the house will look different and it will feel more like home than work. It’s weird, but I’ve had good success with doing this.

If this concept doesn’t work for you, just have something you can do at the end of each work day to tell yourself “that’s it, I’m done, time to play now”. Go for a walk, have a coffee and read a book for half hour, exercise, watch something in particular on tv, just make sure you do the same thing every day at the same time after work and tell yourself that your work day is over. Otherwise you’ll usually spend the rest of the day swanning round the house in ‘work mode’ even if you’re not actually working.

- Finally, get out and see friends as much as you can, or just go to places where there are other people. Working alone can be very isolating, especially over the long term.

Good luck :)!!