The dream. We make it one way or other, and we don’t have to go to the office on the other side of the city 9 to 6. We become sort of independent and we work at home. Comfortable, no commute, a chance to eat good, homemade food if one likes that, flexible schedule – you actually have a chance to take that after lunch nap – no ringing phones, noise, sudden but in fact pointless meetings.

Of course there is the downside, you get immersed in the work and suddenly it’s 9PM – and you missed the movie on TV you wanted to see for ages -, or you realize at 3PM that you actually did not work at all so far.

A completely new way to work, where everything is your responsibility, including the discipline – nobody will stand behind your back to see if you are working or surfing the net, nobody will push you to work when you should instead of playing on your XBox or Playstation.

I always thought that it is all about self discipline, that all you need is willpower and then it is all peachy, you just want it really, really hard and then you are good to go, but I found out that it is not exactly that simple.

Sure it is pure willpower and self-discipline when you get down to the basics but there are small, subtle ways to make it extremely difficult – or a easier.

For example, currently I have exactly one room – unemployed people have a hard time to find a rent, especially if they were planning to move abroad – which means I watch movies, read, sleep and work in the same room. It’s all ok, right, I got a good desk, a big one, a PC with big screen, laptop, papers, pens and everything I need for a home office. Only problem is that the room in itself is full of distraction. It is deeply associated with sleep and fun. Too many non work related stuff – it is a pain when I turn my head and I spot a really, really interesting book that I want to read, or even worse, that I am already reading, now, let me tell you it takes an effort not to stand up and check it out.

So what have I done? I moved over to the guest room – I am planning to turn it into an office with a desk and a chair, but there is some resistance on the part of the family, so for now it is a rather makeshift thing. But the important thing is that I only work here. Nothing else. And my concentration and discipline increased a lot.

And almost empty room, no distraction, I put on my headset, turn on my iPod and work. My desk is a board put on two big speakers, pen, papers and my laptop.

So if you ever plan to work at home, and you reach that goal, do yourself a favour and create a separate office space. It will save you a lot of effort, headache and guilty feelings. And have a separate work computer or laptop. Without any of the funny, interesting games, and apps that you love to play with.

Make your life easier, not more difficult.

If you work at home, or you are a freelancer, what have you learned that can make it easier to avoid distraction, and what pitfalls have you found that made it hard for you? I am curious.

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