To successfully work from home, I follow some simple rules allowing me to stay focused and productive.
Notifications

- Silence all acustical notifications
- Disallow all optical notifications
Work, Meetings and Time-Boxings
- Make a To-Do-List and work accordingly
- Don’t be frustrated if you don’t get all tasks done from your list – review them, schedule them for the next day, adjust
- Don’t do back-to-back-meetings
- Keep time-boxings for meetings
- Turn your camera on and focus on the meeting
- Take notes
Breaks
- Take regular breaks (like 5mins every hour)
- Allow yourself to get distracted once in a while, don’t punish yourself for it – in the end, we’re all humans, aren’t we?
- Get outside, when the weather allows for it, walk around, enjoy the nature
Infrastructure
- Invest in your infrastructure – if not already present, buy a good monitor, a good keyboard and perhaps (although currently overpriced as hell) a good webcam
- Invest in your meeting equipment – if not already present, buy a comfy headset, don’t use in-ears for longer meetings
- Invest in your interactive equipment – buy a good keyboard and a good mouse
- Invest in your working zone – get a good desk and a professional chair
Family-Life

- If your significant other is working from home as well, then use separate rooms, if possible
- If your kids are at home, then don’t punish them for being kids – just take the time for them, involve them, give them tasks if necessary, introduce them, wrap your day around them
- Take your time for your family
I try to work and live according to these rules. To me, this works out.
Hope, it does for you as well.