One of the things I hear constantly is,"How do you stay productive?" And it's often a challenge as a freelancer to stay motivated when you work from home. There is a fridge and stove and a bed and a couch and a TV and recorded movies, books to read.... And there are lots of distractions not in the house, like local parks, the pub down the street, a coffee shop just five minutes walk away, and of course other parks beaches, theaters and general fun stuff happening downtown or nearby.  So here are a five things I try to apply to myself on a regular basis when I am feeling drawn away from my desk or less than productive..

1. Start.
Sometimes I just sit in the chair and stare at the screen for a few minutes. It is virtually impossible not to think of something that can be done at the desk if there are not actual contract deadlines to meet in which case teh project inevitably pops up. Others have said getting started is 80% of the day. I agree. It doesn't get done if I'm not in front of it so that is the best place for me to be.
 
2. Targets or Time.
 I like to set a task target like 1000 words or 2 hours before I get up. I know sales people who commit to 50 or 100 cold calls before they get up. The secret is to limit your chance of  stopping before you are done. Setting a timer on my phone works great when I have a project that is long and it gives me a reminder to take a break. Other times struggling to get the 1000 words done keeps me in the chair until I hit the milestone. Now sometimes it's also important to keep going when you are on a roll and this happens too. getting started and focusing on 1000 words is great, but if the timer goes and I'm in the zone, I just cancel it and keep on going. I know that I can stop when i need to after that but why bail on good energy. Use it  while you got it flowing.

3. Pareto Principle.
I get the most from about 20% of what I do. That's important because focusing on the keys is part of being productive. This can be so valuable I actually know an advertising firm that dropped clients that were not in their own top 25%. It's about the time of course. You only have so much and if you are spinning your wheels trying to coax a few extra dollars out of a client that represents only 2% of your business you need to ask why did they get a priority. If any of your top clients need anything at all you should definitely handle that account first. Spend your time where your money is.

4. Batching
This works because it puts your brain into a certain gear, just like a car transmission. As a freelancer I have several modes of operating and they include reading and research, business writing, creative writing, marketing writing, editing, consulting, self marketing, and my business management. I like to stay in a single mode as long as possible, or until a project milestone hits before I change focus. Business writing is different that creative, and client contact or emails is unrelated to editing.Keep one hat on and change when you need a break from the first mode.

5. Go faster.
This is odd, but increasing your speed increases your output in everything. walking, reading, typing etc. In a course I wrote about speed reading I use this analogy: Imagine you are in a car traveling fast down a highway. Ahead you see a small town and the speed limit warnings tell you to reduce speed. You do, but it's hard. It's difficult to slow down to pass through town. Your brain was all conditioned to go fast and it resented having to slow down. Once in town at less than half your highway speed you feel like you are crawling, and a stop light seems to take forever. But as you leave you feel the excitement starting to build because you are increasing speed again. your brain is releasing endorphins because you are back at its happy speed. And you feel the release as a gratitude for not having to go slower. Train your brain to go faster and it will encourage you to stay faster.

Put a few of these to work and let me know how you feel after a week or so of practice. 

Be well.
L