Working at home can be a blessing and a curse. For about 6 months of my life I was a health insurance agent and I worked from home. It was nice to not have to commute, sleep in when I wanted, and not have to dress up unless I had an appointment. But I learned quite quickly that home can be crazy distracting and not a good place for someone who hates what they are doing (which I did).

Most of our affiliates who are doing the “affiliate thing” full time are working from home. Over the years I’ve heard a number of ways they cope with working at home, from locking the door to their home office so they can’t be distracted, to working out of coffee shops so the lures of home don’t pull them from their work. But one thing most successful work at home folks have in common is the ability to put themselves into the flow.

You know “the flow,” when you are cranking away on a project that you’re totally focused on…doing your best work and doing it efficiently. The flow is a good place to be - and Leo over at the Freelance Switch blog points out 6 ways to get yourself into the flow.

The tips are:

1. Have a clearly defined outcome for the tasks you are working on
2. Make rewards intrinsically rewarding…give yourself something to work towards
3. Do tasks that are sufficiently challenging
4. Clear away distractions while you work
5. Make sure you are relaxed and alert when you are working
6. Put yourself in a state when you have full focus on the task

Head on over to Freelance Switch to get all the details on how to get yourself into the flow.