If you work from home, you can create an environment that will help you feel relaxed while accomplishing more. Here are some suggestions for maximum productivity.

Creating a Peaceful Setting

1. Select a soothing color scheme. Blue may be the most obvious choice, but there are plenty of tranquil hues including rose or earth tones. In fact, you can probably find a soft shade in any of your favorite colors. Save more dynamic tones for accent pieces.

2. Maximize your space. If space is at a premium, look for furniture that doubles as storage and seating. Take advantage of wall space by installing shelves and hooks. Strategically placed mirrors can open up any room, and careful furniture placement will make things feel less cramped.

3. Light up your office. If you have a window, make the most of the natural light and outdoor view. Adequate lighting around your workstation will minimize eyestrain. Adjustable lamps add additional comfort. Remember, the darker the room, the more light you’ll need.

4. Introduce some fragrance. If you have windows for natural light, try some easy-care plants like lavender or mint. Aromatic oil diffusers are also simple to use and long lasting. Scents such as chamomile, frankincense, marjoram, and sage are known for their calming and centering qualities. When you need something more invigorating, try lemon or wintergreen.

5. Play music. One of the nicest things about working alone is being able to enjoy music without disturbing anyone else. Instrumental music is best when you’re trying to concentrate. For routine tasks, play anything you want. Internet radio stations give you a huge selection.

6. Add personal touches. Spread around some treasured photos or vacation souvenirs. Post inspirational sayings or keep a book of favorite quotations on hand.

Getting Organized

1. Banish clutter. Plan for sufficient filing and storage space to help you keep clutter under control. Go paper-free whenever possible. Regularly sort through your materials for things you can discard or archive.

2. Clean regularly. Vacuum and dust every two to four days. Do a thorough cleaning at least once a month. This will help protect you from germs and create a more hospitable environment.

3. Separate your personal and business activities. When you work from home, it’s helpful to create boundaries to keep your life in balance. Keep distractions like laundry out of the office, and office items such as files out of the rest of the house. This will help you to focus and will also reduce the risk of losing things.

4. Minimize interruptions. Some people may have trouble understanding that you’re busy when you’re at home. Let your family and friends know the hours when you need to minimize calls or other interruptions. Resist the temptation to check email too frequently and put your phone on voice mail when you need some quiet time.

5. Stay connected. Take steps to avoid feeling isolated. Go out to lunch with colleagues at least once a week. Find local chapters of organizations relevant to your business and attend the meetings. Networking is good for your career and personal happiness.

6. Give yourself a break. When you set your own schedule, you need to plan your own breaks. You’ll be more effective at work if you stay active and refresh your mind. Go to the gym before you settle down to work in the morning. If you find yourself working long hours, pick one afternoon to take off and see a movie.

Working at home can be a great experience if you create a setting that dispels fatigue and tension. Use these principles of design and organization to feel better and work more effectively.

As a self-employed professional, your livelihood depends on your ability to consistently remain productive. However, it’s all too common for a work session to turn into a blogging session or YouTube video marathon. These distractions cut into your bottom line by decreasing your output exponentially.

If you have trouble staying on task for a long period of time, start applying the tips below to skyrocket your productivity:

1. Keep social networking to a minimum. Avoid checking your accounts several times per hour. Social media marketing can be valuable to your business, but checking your Twitter, Facebook or other social networking messages too often can often waste hours throughout the day.

* Limit the number of times you allow yourself to check your messages each day. Check for new messages in the morning, during lunch, and in the evening before bedtime. That way, social networking keeps its proper place instead of stealing opportunities.

2. Maintain a clean office. A cluttered space can cause a mental block that can last several hours. Ensure that your work surface is clutter free and that any unnecessary paperwork is tucked away. Make use of file cabinets, storage boxes, and bookcases.

* Before you leave your office each evening, take a few minutes to clear any clutter. Just five minutes of maintenance every day can make a big difference in the peace you feel as you begin each new workday.

3. Define your “visiting hours.” If you work at home, you’re likely familiar with the frustration of family members popping into your office to chat. Make it clear that when you’re working, trivial interruptions must wait until your scheduled break time. Hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your office door to keep interruptions at bay.

* If you work from home, but your workspace is set up in a highly trafficked area, try noise-blocking headphones to eliminate the sounds around you. Separate your workspace with a curtain or a bookshelf to maximize your privacy.

4. Clear all distractions. When you’re working on your proposal or project, it’s easy to let your mind wander. Use software to block websites that are known to cause lulls in your productivity. And ignore calls that are not related to your business while in the office.

* As long as you’re prompt in returning a call, it’s perfectly acceptable to send a client’s call to voicemail. In fact, save time by offering email as your main point of contact. Often, a 45-minute conversation could be reduced to one or two very short emails back and forth.

5. Make your health a priority. To keep your mind strong and maintain an appropriate workflow, make wise choices and take care of your body. If you do, you’ll have more energy to tackle your to-do list and more will get done. Stay away from heavy foods. Exercise on a regular basis and make sure you receive a good amount of sleep each night.

* For best results, exercise in the early morning before starting work. It’ll give you an energy jolt that’s better than coffee, and boosts your mood with no crash later.

6. Work in spurts. Most independent professionals find it best to work in sets of 15 to 45 minutes. Work through this time without any bathroom breaks, phone calls, or time wasting Web surfing.

* After completing your spurt, take a short five to ten minute break and begin working on your second spurt of uninterrupted work time.

7. Take regular breaks. Once you get started on a project, it can be easy to lose track of time and forget about breaks. However, short, regular breaks are essential to the effectiveness of your work and your overall health. Take a five minute break every hour in order to reap the highest rewards.

* Step away from the computer on a regular basis to prevent repetitive stress injuries like carpal tunnel, backaches, and eyestrain.

8. Work according to your own schedule. You’re no longer part of the rat race. Therefore, if you aren’t reaching your productivity peak during the 9-to-5 schedules, change it up a bit.

* Many freelancers find that they’re most productive in the early morning hours of 5 am to 12 pm. Or, if you’re a night owl, turn those sleepless nights into money making hours by cranking out some work.

9. Create a comfortable work area. If you have to hunch your back to reach your short desk, back pain and discomfort will hinder your effectiveness. Furnish your office with a desk and chair that are the right height for you. Stay away from bright wall colors that distract you from your work.

* Cooler tones are ideal wall colors for an office area. They promote effective thinking and soothe your eyes.

10. Visualize your reward. Motivate yourself to increase your productivity by imagining how great you’ll feel once the project is done. Imagine the financial rewards. Feel the pride you experience when your work is praised. Imagine how your family will benefit.

* For many people, money is the biggest motivator. Create a wish list on your favorite shopping website, and buy an item on the list each time you complete a big project or achieve a challenging goal.

As an independent professional, you can function at maximum capacity. You have control of your time, and these ideas will help you to make the most of it. Choose one or more of these ideas today and begin to experience the personal, business, and financial success you deserve.

Do you know when to stop when workload gets too heavy? You need to understand the importance of time. After all, this is critical to your success. You have to be able to maximize every second of your day and complete all tasks in a timely fashion. If you just have too many things to do, don’t hesitate to ask for help. Hire an extra set of hands if you must so you can free up your time and concentrate on the other aspects.

Especially in business, you have to turn your focus on tasks that create revenue. These are things that go with the core of the business, the foundation from which the company stands on. If it doesn’t make money, delegate it. If you are a business owner, try not to get yourself into non-revenue generating activities. Your focus should be on marketing the business so you will have one to speak of.

Business owners, in particular, are mostly very busy. The size and nature of their company is irrelevant because when you are really starting something from scratch, you need to invest a lot of your time and money. As soon as you’ve set up the roles of the people involved and have purchased the materials, you now need to turn your attention to getting your business out there. So yes, you really will have to complete what would feel like a million tasks before you can finally see where everything should be. On the bright side, you are your own boss. So, if you need to stop and rest, you can do so without anyone questioning your actions.

If you are continually on the move, stress will definitely catch up with you. You will eventually feel harassed and annoyed. It might even get to the point where something has to give way. See the entire scenario as a balloon. If you keep filling it up with air, it will eventually burst. Going through busy periods is okay. However, you also need time to relax and recharge. Otherwise, you will be like a machine running low on batteries: completing a task just takes longer.

You need to know when to say stop, when to turn down a responsibility. The fate of the world does not rest on your shoulders, so when you have to step back, do so and do it without feeling guilty. No matter how noble your intentions are, you cannot be everything all at one time. I someone asks you to do something, weigh things first.

If it’s just not possible, learn to say no in a nice way. The most tactful method would be to tell them that you’ll consider their request once your work is complete. This tells the other person that your work is important and help would be nice.

Saying no actually helps other people to grow. You are also teaching them to fend for themselves. Now, if you still have too much on your plate, learn to delegate. Delegation is the art of a true leader. The secret to successful delegation is to build the task’s importance to the person you are passing the work to. Thank them graciously and tick one off from your list of responsibilities. At the end of the day, review your list to see how much you have achieved. This will help drive you forward. The point is, you don’t have to be ridiculously busy to get things done. Change your perspective and look at it as being busy achieving what you want.

Let’s face it. The Internet, with its extensive amounts of information, lightening fast speeds, and varied content, has become a necessary tool for any small business owner. However, that same information and interesting content is responsible for untold amounts of time wasting each day.

It is easy to fall prey to its charms. You log on to verify a shipment or research a new possible product line and it happens… you see a blurb about the hottest new vacation spot and off you go. Hours later you have read the latest international news, checked your investments, booked your next vacation and bought a pair of house shoes. Unfortunately, however, you haven’t gotten a bit of work done.

So, with all the temptation and the necessary information to contend with, what is an entrepreneur supposed to do? The answer is simple; you need to find a balance that focuses your efforts more successfully.

Start by reviewing your activity tracking worksheet again. This time, however, only scrutinize the entries that are related to Internet use. Pay close attention to the amount of time you spent surfing compared to the amount of actual work you completed. Once you can see the problem in black and white, you can actively see the need to do something about it.

Next, make an online “to do” list. While the heading “Internet” can be a daily entry on your regular “to do” list, you need to make a separate, more detailed list for your online activities each day. Include everything related to the Internet on this list including reading emails, ordering supplies, booking your vacation, even shopping for your mother’s birthday present.

Once your list is complete, reorder the entries according to priority. Next you should jot down an estimate of time next to each entry. For example, agree to let yourself spend ten minutes searching for and booking your hotel accommodations. Adjust the time allotment according to importance and degree of difficulty. Of course using one of the time tracker tools referenced in a previous chapter that tracks what program you’re using and for how long, does away with making notes about your time spent on line.

Once you have your list completed and your time boundaries in place, vow to adhere to the list. Also, select a dedicated time period of each day to concentrate on your online “To Do” list. This will keep you from hopping on and off the Internet at many different times throughout the day and running the risk of varying from your online “To Do” list.

So, now that you have your Internet time organized, how do you fight the temptation to wander off task? One good way is to take advantage of bookmarks. It is very easy to happen upon an interesting, and potentially important website while conducting a work related search. But, instead of ruining your well laid time management plans, bookmark the site and add exploring that site to a future “to do” list.

All browsers have a “Bookmark” or “Favorites” options that allows you to save web pages to a folder for later viewing. Take advantage of this time management tool by creating folders based on topic and interest and delegating all newly discovered sites to the appropriate folder for future viewing put them in a place where you can plan on time to review them instead of them costing you time and causing you frustration when you had not alloted time for “Favorites Site Review”.

Does your workspace look like a tornado hit it? Reports are on one corner of your desk; current work is spread across the keyboard; you know you have an appointment coming up, but you can’t find your calendar under the mess.

It seems you may need to learn how to organize your workspace!

Having an organized workspace can do more for you than make your desktop look better. Being organized can help you be more productive and reduce the amount of stress you feel when you get to work, during the day, and when you leave for home.

Organizing your desk may take more time than you have available during your workday. Ask your boss if you can come in on your own time to clear and organize your desk. They’ll appreciate your desire. After all, organizing your workspace benefits them as well as you.

These steps will help you organize your workspace:

1. Remove everything from the top of your desk and out of the drawers. Of course, you can leave large items such as your computer or printer where they are. Everything else should be put into boxes.


2. Wipe down the entire surface of your desk and inside each drawer.


3. Sort through the items you removed from your desk and drawers. Group items together such as office supplies, filing materials, items to be filed, reference materials, and desk accessories.


4. Get rid of paperwork you no longer need. Do you have unnecessary duplicates of reports or files? Recycle them. Are there items you still need? Keep those items and set them aside until later.


5. Make a plan for where you’ll put things back. You’ll want items you use frequently to remain within reach, so those items will take precedence on your desk.


6. Create an area where you can keep current papers handy. Paper trays are often used. Vertical files are another option if you have quite a bit of paperwork.

* Establish a tickler file for various activities you perform regularly – To Read, To File, To Pay, To Do, and others.


7. Put items back into place after you’ve gone through them and purged what isn’t needed. Only the items you need at your desk should be put back.

Maintaining Your Organized Workspace

The old saying goes “a place for everything and everything in its place.” Decide where each item goes and then leave it there unless you’re actively using it.

* If you’re in the middle of a big project and it’s taking up much needed space, don’t be afraid to remove an item and then put it right back when you’re finished with the project.

Remember that your goal is to have an organized desk. This doesn’t mean it has to be totally cleared off, but you do want to have space so you can function.

If you’ve noticed something that will help you become more organized, don’t be afraid to ask your boss to pay for it. In the long run, your increased productivity will more than pay for the item.

After you have your desk organized, do what you can to keep it clean. Decide what you’re going to do with each item as it’s placed on your desk. Use the tickler file if you have paper, or write important dates on your calendar instead of setting things aside to deal with later.

It can be so easy to keep your desk clear once you’ve learned how to organize your workspace and put things back in their home when you’re done with them. Take the last five minutes of your day to straighten your desk and it will hopefully stay that way from here on out.