If the phrase ‘working from home’ makes you think of working from the comfort of your bed in your pjs, Mac balancing on your knees like Hannah Horvath, think again. All of the jobs I’ve had so far in my career have required me to work from home at some point and I can tell you that at no point did I do the above. Well, the first time I did start in bed, in my pjs, but I was so uncomfortable that after an hour of trying to get settled I gave up, got up and have worked from my desk ever since.

However, just working at a desk sometimes isn’t enough to get you in the work mode, and before the snow sets in and leaves us all stranded at home with just our laptop and favourite mug for company, I spoke to Graham Allcott, Managing Director of Think Productive and author of How to be a Productivity Ninja,  about what you can do to be more productive when working from home.

Dealing with distractions

Whether it’s organising your desk, tidying the kitchen or watching TV, your house is full of more distractions than your workplace so it’s important to get rid of them. Allcott advises noticing your weaknesses and working on them: “I work from home a lot, [and] the clever, motivated me has installed a blocker on Facebook between 9 and 5, so I can’t wander off there and procrastinate with friends during the day, I have also been known to have my entire home wifi connection on a time switch, so I give myself some hours of offline concentration.”

Whatever your distraction, either set a time to complete it before you start work, or stop yourself from being exposed to the distraction. For example Graham suggests taking “the kettle, milk, teabags and clean mug into another room so your lazy, scatterbrained self won’t even see the washing up until later”.

Create your own space

Of course the perfect scenario here is having an extra room that you keep neat and tidy and use only for work, but unfortunately the reality might not be as ideal, so what can you do? “Have a desk or cupboard that you can close and put away. But equally, don’t make it so elaborate that it takes you half an hour setting everything up whenever you sit down to work. Invest in extra laptop and phone chargers, so that these never need to leave your workspace, and double-buy anything else you need, so that your workspace is never ‘stealing’ from home or vice versa,” says Graham.

Set the scene

You might not miss the stressful commute or the constant phone ringing of the office, but there are aspects of your workplace that are good to re-create. And, thanks to Graham and his knowledge of apps, it’s never been easier: “There are apps that recreate the chatter of a coffee shop, or lamps that illuminate the desk in a similar way to that terrible artificial strip-lighting that you get in most offices”. When working from home you also miss out on conversation but this communication is important in keeping you motivated throughout the day, so Graham suggests calling on social media occasionally, especially Twitter “to chat to other home freelancers”.

Getting in work mode

Most of the people I spoke to about home working said that they dressed as if they were going into work to put them into the work mindset, but Graham suggests it’s more about having rituals: “I will often do a mile run round the park (which is no more than 10 or 15 minutes) or walk around the block to buy milk – this is me saying “right. I’m walking to work now”. And when I get back and put my key back in the door, that tells my brain I’m at work.” Now that’s a commute we’d be happy with.

Get moving 

Doing laps of the house is something I excel at when I’m working from home (if only because of the distractions around me), but if you find yourself glued to your desk, it’s worth setting a reminder to get moving every now and again. “Circulating the blood around the body is good for your concentration as well as for general health. In a regular office, you’ll always get fresh air and see people taking lunch breaks, but working from home it can be easy to forget these things, so make sure you have a proper lunch break and get some fresh air at least once a day,” advises Graham.

Pay (the right) attention

Who knew that the key to being productive was managing your attention and not your time? Graham talks about three levels of attention – “‘proactive’ attention, where your energy is high and you can be at your best, ‘inactive attention’, where you’re knackered and only have a limited capability and then ‘active attention’, the bit in the middle” – and says that recognising which level you’re at means you can choose the most appropriate tasks.

Home working, says Graham, is the time when a lot of people use their ‘proactive attention’. If this is you, then when you’re next working from home, try to work on tasks that require high levels of concentration and focus: “Keeping a list of these items and doing as much of that as possible – rather than just checking email! – can be very valuable”.

Need some more work inspiration? Discover how to create your own network, start your own business and why you should have a mentor right here at Girls Talk London!

– Stephanie Bolton

Follow Stephanie on Twitter @StephanieBolton