It is great working from home, and wouldn’t have it any other way…. but… Working from home the last few years, I’ve learnt, sometimes the hardway™, that you need to take special measures to make sure you remain sane and happy.
In an attempt to perhaps help others, and even more of a hope to start a dialogue, I’ll post what has helped me.
So, onward…
#1 – Turn off all those ‘New email’, IM blips, alert sound blops and other unnecesary sounds.
This one alone has helped me the most. If you have your email app bleeting at you that there is support email to answer, or discussions on IM that need your attention, despite you having worked for the last 18 hours already, you will get no down time…. or sleep 
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About
Cris Pearson from Melbourne, Australia.
Grew up in George Town, Tasmania.
CEO, co-founder, interaction + interface + graphic
+ web designer at plasq.
We are best known for Comic Life which was bundled with Millions of Apple Macs and now the much lauded, Skitch!.
Non plasq projects:
Loqalize - Open software translation web service
tequp - tech and art meetups
UI Review - Flickr group for peer UI reviews
Good idea!
I wait in anticipation of your next tip!
Do you have to do things to clearly define when your work time is, to really separate work from home life, or do you just work whenever?
eg I once had a scriptwriting lecturer who used to work as a professional screenwriter, working from home, writing scripts in his pyjamas! (So he said.) Of course, it sounds idealistic to work in one’s pyjamas, but I would imagine that after a few weeks, the whole novelty of wearing pyjamas in general would wear off. Sleep-time would become too closely associated with work-time, and suddenly all different aspects of life would become mushed together – like how mixing several paint colours together produces brown.
I also once read an article by an author who said that when working from home, he had to make sure his family knew when to talk to him and when not to interrupt him. For example, if he left his desk and wandered around the house, they would think he was taking a break and would start a conversation. The truth would be that he was still heavily in thought and producing ideas. Therefore, he found it helpful to let them know that just because he wasn’t at his desk, didn’t mean that he wasn’t working.
“Do you have to do things to clearly define when your work time is, to really separate work from home life, or do you just work whenever?”
I don’t… But I feel I should have some more clarity… mostly because I’ll keep working and not let myself relax.
“Sleep-time would become too closely associated with work-time, and suddenly all different aspects of life would become mushed together – like how mixing several paint colours together produces brown.”
I find this hard to answer, as this is all I’ve known… I haven’t ever had a ‘real job’. The pajama thing is an issue though, cause if you stay in ya jamies, and not shower, then you don’t feel ready to go out side… go for a walk… buy milk… pop into a café to have a coffee… showering when you wake up is important.
“For example, if he left his desk and wandered around the house, they would think he was taking a break and would start a conversation.”
This rings very true for me… Luckily, Rachael is patient and resilient – She can be asking me questions or trying to talk to me, and I’ll ignore her or just mumble now and then. I can walk away from my computer still thinking about what I was just doing – if someone talks to me, it fucks with the flow of thought.