Home based business are great for saving money on overheads and facilities. Take away these top tips for productivity at home to ensure your business is a success.

Being able to work flexible hours from the comfort of your own home may seem like a dream come true for many but the truth is it can be a challenging to keep productivity levels high. With this in mind, here are five tips to boost productivity when working from home.

Make Space for a Home Office

The main reason you decided to go freelance may have been to get away from the nine to five routine but having a dedicated office space to work in can improve productivity. Creating a dedicated work space in your home can ensure you are in the right frame of mind to accomplish what you need to during your working day. Turning a spare room into an office can make separating business and leisure easy and you can always put a few things in storage to free up some space. Make sure your space is comfortable but functional, and above all else make sure that you avoid cluttering your professional space with domestic items. Treat your work space as you would any office.

Take a Break

Stepping away from your computer and taking some time out is important if you want to keep productivity at an all time high. While you may think that staring at your screen all day will help you to produce maximum output, this can be in fact counterproductive. Schedule breaks throughout the day as this will ensure that you don’t burn out.

Avoid Distractions

Working from home can leave you vulnerable to distractions that you won’t find in the traditional office environment. Creating a workstation in your spare room can help you to avoid being tempted to watch television but the internet can also provide a number of distractions. It’s easy to get distracted by social sites and personal emails so it could be wise to set up a separate desktop that only has business related icons on it.

Create a Calendar

If you opted for a freelance position because the nine to five routine did not appeal to you, the chances are these hours still won’t appeal to you when you are working from home. One of the benefits of working from home is that you have the freedom to create your own schedule and this is a great opportunity to work to your strengths. For example, if you feel like you have more energy on an evening than in the morning, there is no harm in changing your schedule. Start later and finish later if this means your productivity will improve.

So, there you have it, five ways to keep productivity levels high when working from home.