Many people associate working online from home with having the freedom to organize their own lives.

Of course things are never that simple. To succeed anyone working online from home still has to ensure a certain level of work every day in order to reach the goals you want to hit. Whatever happens, you still need an income to keep going and this means you must allocate enough time to achieve enough work to bring in money.

This means it is important to have a routine.

One trick is to condition the mind to work at certain times. Obviously you can get work completed at any time of day or night but different people are more effective at different times. Some work better early in the morning while others are better later in the day. You need to find a good routine that will have you working at a time that suits your way of working.

To be effective when working online from home you need to devise a routine so regular that you are ready to work automatically. It has already been proved that going to bed at the same time every night gives you a better nights sleep and setting a work time is just the same. A regular time to sleep programmes the mind to expect to sleep at that time and working at the same time every day will condition the mind to be at its best for work at that time. If you like, you will get into a habit where the mind is ready to work and you will be more productive as a result.

This impacts on several areas of daily life. Sleep is certainly one area but it is also true that the human body digests food more efficiently if meals are eaten at regular times. Also if you set aside the same times to relax each day, you will find you will benefit more from those rest periods.

Perhaps this sounds a little far-fetched and just a little depressing as well. Surely we are more than human computers to be programmed? Of course this is not the whole picture but on the other hand a good, regular routine will help you manage your time that much better. Knowing what you should be doing and when helps you to commit completely to whatever you are doing.

A good complete daily routine ensures all aspects of your life work better. Feeling tired will damage your work output so ensuring you are in bed at the same time every night will provide better sleep and enable you to be up, alert and ready to be working online from home at the appropriate time.

My experience has been that a disrupted routine really does damage my abilities for a healthy and productive day. Sometimes it alls comes right; I eat at the right times, sleep regularly and exercise every day. It is very clear that my health and concentration on my work improves considerably.

But then at other times I lose control.

Some excellent legitimate reasons ensured I lost two days work this week. Sadly I then got out of my routine and failed to restore it. Somehow I was late getting into bed so felt tired in the morning. To counter this, I woke up later one day but instead ate later than normal and forewent my exercise that day. My stress levels increased and I failed to achieve my work goals for that day. It was very noticeable the distractions seemed to increase too.

For me, the best day comes when I get to bed before midnight and sleep until eight in the morning. I have some exercises to do before I have breakfast and jump onto my bicycle and go for a ride on a set route. On my return I am ready for work and settle down. Every hour I stop work and do something else for ten minutes and at the same time every day I take an hour for lunch. Work finishes at eight in the evening when I review my day's work and look at what I need to do next day. I will spend time reading, going for a walk and relaxing. This is what works for me when working online from home but I have no doubt a different routine will work better for you.

The important thing is to discover you own most effective schedule and keep to it. There will be times when an event will impinge on your time but it is essential you get back on your routine as quickly as possible.

A good routine is so important when you are working online from home.

Keith Braithwaite is a generally nosey and opinionated guy but his heart is in the right place. After nearly thirty years in the corporate world and twenty keenly observing direct selling, he is now following interests in self-development, internet marketing and historical studies and is enjoying working online from home.

Keith now promotes legal online jobs at his site OnlineLegitJobs.biz, http://www.OnlineLegitJobs.biz/