15 tips for working productively from home

Working from home can be a blessing or a curse—mostly a blessing.

Through almost a quarter-century of working mostly from home, I’ve developed productivity tricks and techniques. Here are my top 15:

1. Have a dedicated workspace. You don’t need a separate room, but you do need a dedicated space. It shouldn’t be in the basement (too dark and depressing), and ideally it shouldn’t be in your bedroom, either. Follow the principle that you shouldn’t sleep where you work. If worse comes to worst, set up a table in a corner of your living room or take over your kitchen or dining room table during business hours. Use a special table mat or some props (reference books?) to show it’s your working time.