One of the best parts of having an online business is the ability to work from home. You can get up well rested and you have more flexibility with how you run your business. However, it is very important to set some rules for yourself so that you remain productive.

In this post, I discuss some of the things that I do to stay focused and get work done.

Establish a Work Routine

One of the most important things to do is establish a work routine. One of the biggest mistakes that people make is to not plan out their day and regular schedule. This can lead to fluctuations in productivity. On some weeks, you might feel super productive, while on other weeks, you’ll feel like you aren’t getting anything done.

Success comes from setting healthy habits. When you were in school, most students get into the habit of getting up early and going to class, studying in the evening and weekends when necessary, and dealing with heavy course loads at times.

When you work independently, a lot of the accountability is gone. You don’t have an instructor or boss looking over your shoulder and it is tempting to sleep in later or play around more. Keep in mind however that you are working for your own success, so you need to commit to establishing good work habits. Once you train your mind to work at certain times, it won’t be so bad.

Don’t Do Things You Normally Wouldn’t Do at a Job

For a long time, I use to sleep in and go to the grocery store during the week to avoid the crowds. My justification was that grocery shopping during the week saved time during the long run and that sleeping in allowed me to feel more rested.

Unfortunately, these habits had a high price as far as productivity was concerned. There were days and even weeks where I didn’t get much done.

So my basic rule is this – if you didn’t do it at work, then don’t do it when you work at home. When you get to the point where you are super successful and other people are doing the work, then maybe you can consider taking it easy, but until then avoid these temptations as they might very well put you out of business.

Be Aware of Time Wasters

One of the things that I do now is to constantly assess where I’m wasting time during the week when I should be productive. Sometimes we work on things we like to do instead of things we should be doing, but don’t like as much.

At the end of each week, reflect back on your week and take note of the days you weren’t productive and some of the things that distracted you. One example – I use to cook breakfast and lunch every day at home. This cost me a lot of productivity during the early part of the day. Now I cook everything on Sunday and just heat it up.

Schedule Time Off

As entrepreneurs, we always feel that there’s work to be done and it is tempting to always be working. However, working too much can lead to burnout, which is one of the biggest reasons a lot of entrepreneurs eventually give up and quit.

During the week, you should try to take at least one day off from work. I also switch gears on the weekends and evenings and try to do different types of work, like learning about marketing or reading about business, rather than “doing stuff”.

If possible, you should also take some vacation time for a week or two at least. Taking time off allows you to relax and also gain perspective on your business. A lot of entrepreneurs work year round taking very little vacation. Some of my biggest realizations about how to run my business came when I was on vacation and more detached from it.