This is a guest-post from @Stephen, who is the editor of Productivity in Context, a resource for articles on Productivity and Leadership, New Media Studies, and tools for organizing. Click here to learn more about improving your life and work through increased mindfulness, education, and workflow practices.

I have been thinking about LinkedIn quite a bit lately, especially the various ways that it can be used as a social media tool, rather than just an online resume. One feature that I had not taken advantage of was the Question and Answer, so I decided to perform an experiment.

I asked a question that was sent out to all of my contacts (and made it public), looking for some tips and tricks on working from home. The response was phenomenal, and I have compiled the answers below. There was definitely a theme running through most of the responses - having discipline about your routine and taking a break from the grind to interact with other people.

I can say that these two points have been most difficult for me, in my own Work at Home environment. (It does get lonely, sometimes.)

The top tips and tricks follow, with a list of contributors at the end, as I have done a mash-up of the answers to get to the heart of it.

Working from home takes a lot of discipline but the upside is well worth it.

1. It is vital to have a routine:

• Get yourself ready, just as if you were going to an office. If you feel like a professional, you’ll work like one.
• Start the day with a clear purpose. Know what your most important tasks are. (E-mail is not your most important task!)
• Set a time frame for projects/activities and work to keep it.
• Find your best hours for working - high energy, low interruptions.
• Take breaks in between tasks. Go for a short walk, get a drink of water.
• Let your family know that certain times are for work, and you can’t be disturbed for non-emergencies.
• Leave time in your day for the unexpected.

2. Schedule your personal activities:

• The doctor’s visit gets put after hours
• A trip to the store fits into your lunch break
• Do this with your home chores as well (post office run, laundry, personal calls).
• Schedule a time to quit working and live your life.

3. Invest in the right tools and use technology for your benefit:

• A good-sized desk and quality chair.
• All of the equipment and supplies that you need.
• Up-to-date computing hardware.
• A back-up plan in case there is a hardware or internet problem, back up your hard drive regularly, know where you can get internet access if it fails at home.
• A dedicated business phone and/or fax number.
• Set yourself up for online banking and bill-paying.
• Use voice recognition software if you type slowly.

4. Take pride in your space. Your work area should be clean, with good light and air circulation. Also, a few other amenities can keep things fresh:

• Pictures of family or friends.
• Outdoor scenes if you don’t have a window.
• A door to your office is an under-appreciated asset when you have small children.
• Communicate the boundaries of your space and time.
• Get out of your workspace from time to time. The patio can be nice. So can Panera.

5. If you feel isolated there are a few suggestions for social contact:

• Go out for lunch with others
• Go to the gym and work out. This helps with your energy level!
• Participate in (real-world) social networks.
• Go work at the local coffee shop for a few hours.
• Use Twitter (sparingly) as your virtual water cooler.
• Treat yourself with a trip to the bookstore when you reach a major milestone/accomplishment.

6. A couple of respondents provided a list of more technical issues that face the work at home professional:

• Don’t under estimate the amount of time you’ll spend on overhead. Billing, marketing, cleaning your office, supporting your computer, dealing with taxes etc. Make sure your rate reflects the fact that you may only have 3 to 6 hours of billable time each day. If you are working for another company this may be less of an issue because they provide some support services.
• Consider paying $50 per month to have a payroll service handle all the payroll paperwork. It is well worth it to know everything is done right and to keep from hassling with it yourself. To keep things inexpensive only pay yourself once per month.
• You need a solid tested backup plan. If your computer gets destroyed or stolen how long will it take you to get back to work with a new system?
• Unless your employer supplies you with a phone of some type, get a line you can dedicate to business. This can be Skype, a cell phone, or a traditional land line. I give people my cell phone number, but then call them back on Skype if the call will be more than a few minutes long. Skype is particularly useful if you are working with tech support or long conference calls where you may need to spend 2 hours on the phone.
• Consider getting an assistant. Someone who comes to help for a few hours every other day can be very valuable in allowing you to focus on things that actually make money. They can run errands, handle shipping, do research, make appointments, make travel arrangements and a host of other tasks that are time consuming but don’t necessarily require your direct attention. A local college or even high school student may appreciate the flexible schedule you can offer and come with a great deal of talent for the price.
• Prepare for taxes every month. For my business, I purchased an acordion file and labeled each tab with a tax category: meals & entertainment, office supplies, postage, printing, etc. As I gather receipts from various cash expenses, I toss them into the respective folder. At the end of the quarter, they’re already categorized, so I just add them together and enter them as a line-item journal entry in my quickbooks file.
• Get your business cards professionally printed. It makes a difference.

7. Find or develop your own master mind group/coaching/mentor around something you love.

• Whether it is growing your business, marketing, a book club, whatever, build a solid support network that you can go to for outside viewpoints and candid observations.
• Hiring a business coach is another possibility here. The goal is to have a full blown support network. Informal networks at the office must be replaced when you are away from the office.
• Recruit a mentor to bounce ideas off of, and to turn in regular status reports to.

Some of my contacts replied with blog posts of their own:

Agent Sully provided Should You Start Your Own Work at Home Business

Words Within wrote Working from Home: Challenges and Opportunities

Jared Goralnick submitted How to get started with working remotely

Ron Haynes wrote:

…a blog post about some ways to make money while keeping your day job.

Here are a few tips to follow in your quest for extra income.

• Always get everything in writing.
• Always consult with a qualified tax adviser for mileage and other potential deductions.
• Always try to get payment up front.
• Always ask for referrals from your existing clients.

When it comes to tools,

Brad Shorr added:

I really like my Moleskine 12 Month Weekly Planner Notebook, which I’ve been using for a couple years. It’s about 5-1/2″ x 8-1/4″, and surprisingly thin. The left page gives you 7 good size blocks corresponding to the days of the week, and the right page is a blank, lined sheet of paper. Simple, yet very functional for keeping track of appointments and tasks.

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I would like to thank all of the Contributors who made this post possible, and taught me some valuable lessons about personal productivity and working from home:

Mike St. Pierre
Brad Shorr
Ron Haynes
David Zinger
Stephen Hopson
Stephanie Schwerdel
Judi Jones
Liz Crystal
Jim Bouchard
Mark Shead
Naomi Dunford
Lance Dunkin
Byron Van Arsdale
Hamish Taylor
Carla (Fischer) Haase
George Krueger
Patricia “Miche” Mayo
Susan Sabo
Rick Mahn
James Mallinson
Andrew Flusche
Ray Drossaert
Cortney Sellers
Christine (Chris) Brown
Ruth Marie Sylte