Working at a home-based business requires dedication to setting it up and maintaining it to keep it running smoothly. Whether you work for a large company as a local agent or on your own, it’s important to train yourself to use time wisely and efficiently. Having freelanced for both corporations and myself, here are some tips I use to stay focused and organized, despite distractions.

First of all, create a comfortable office for yourself. But not too comfortable, or you won’t want to work. For example, I bought a large comfortable massage recliner for my desk chair to go with my large mahogany desk. They both took up the entire room. Being the sales supervisor for a large corporation from home, I close sales that other salespeople cannot. But, during the period of time that the overly comfortable recliner was in my office (about a month), my sales plummeted. My best guess is that my motivation was diminished by the fact that the chair was too comfortable. That must be why there are so many office chairs that are not that comfortable but are popular. So, I went and bought a regular executive chair that reclined a bit, but it wasn’t too fancy. That did the trick. My sales went up again and stayed there. The recliner is now in the living room, where it belongs.

Make sure that the room where your office is located is large enough. I moved my huge desk to another room to give him more space, since the room he had been in was too small for it. Now, with room to move, room to work, and a chair that keeps me from getting too comfortable, I’m in business.

Another issue that can be significant in the home office environment is knick-knacks. Working at corporate headquarters previously, I saw cubicles decorated in every way. Each person has what works best for them. Some tape trolls on top of their monitors, in my opinion there should be a law against this. Once I was working at someone’s desk who had too many chotchkes and picture frames. Every time I turned around, something fell off. Thank God I was only there for an hour, but it wasn’t the most productive hour, since I had to tiptoe through his things. But hey, whatever floats your boat for maximum effectiveness at work, some don’t mind working this way. Find what works for you. I have a few things on my desk for motivational purposes, including my cat, who refuses to leave my desk alone. But, it’s not crowded to the point that work suffers. It’s all about ease of use, is your desk organized efficiently so you can get supplies and papers quickly, if needed? Working on the phone and computer, this is important to me.

One contributing factor to working at home is family interference. If you have kids, you know what I’m talking about. Teach everyone to leave you alone during work time, unless there is a true emergency to attend to. Hire a babysitter, if necessary. During work time, keep your office door closed. The idea is to focus, and it’s easier to focus in peace, without distractions. If your pets are distracting, they should also stay out of the room. My cat sleeps under my lamp, so I’m lucky. If he wakes up and starts stomping on the computer keyboard, I take him out into the living room and close the door. Noisy pets can be disruptive, especially if you work on the phones like I do. It doesn’t hurt the noisy pet to be in the garage or in another part of the house while you work. Or feed the animal, then it will be too busy eating to be in your office making noise. Be creative in how you find distractions for those who distract you, before work time. So when you are working, you don’t need to stop and figure it out.

Also, turn off cell phones and tell friends not to call you during work time. So, keep this limit. If they call, tell them you’ll call back after work or on a break. It’s tempting to let yourself be distracted by others, but they interfere with making money by interrupting you during the time you’ve allotted for business. This is difficult, I know, but it is a necessary topic to keep you focused and serious in your work.

Take breaks, especially if you feel stressed. It is a proven fact that working in a straight line without interruptions lowers the quality of work. So when you need a break, take it. Get up and do something relaxing. Or at least go have a coffee. So your mindset will be more positive and refreshed when the break is over. Quality work is important, more than quantity. I am a workaholic and work ten or more hours a day. So, I take lots of short 5 minute mental rejuvenation breaks (coffee helps give me a physical boost) to keep everything in order.

Dress for work in business casual attire, not pajamas, when working from home. It keeps me in a more professional mindset and reminds me that I have a real job to do, not just a chore to get out of bed. Maybe later, when your business is fancier and you have more free time, you can change the way you work, but in building and maintaining a small business, it pays to be more disciplined and professional.

If you take work seriously, plan your office, your time and your tasks, working at home is a piece of cake. It just takes a bit of stock retraining and some patience, but it gets comfortable to have structure after a while. Just make sure you stop to smell the coffee here and there to keep your focus and drive. Being a business owner is all about drive, logic, and persistence. Many successful entrepreneurs work most of the time and make good use of their limited time. The people I know enjoy what they do, because they have figured out how to make it work for them. That is your job as an independent consultant. Find out exactly what works mentally and physically for you, and you’ll be on your way to business success.