1. I have a friend who runs his business solo; every morning we email each other our ‘to do’ list before 9am. Helps to be accountable to someone else as well as yourself, and stops you feeling so isolated.

2. As well as a daily ‘to do’ list, I have a two weekly calendar schedule print out that I schedule work and meetings into daily (broken up into 2 hour time frames) so I can see the big picture and not cram in too much stuff. Make sure to leave buffer space for the inevitable unexpected!

3. Schedule breaks outside of office (check PO box, get lunch in park, exercise etc). Stick to the schedule!

4. I spend between 8 – 9am making a juice or tea, scanning new emails, organising to do list/schedule and then browsing the net – I schedule in this time, otherwise I get too distracted during the work day.

5. I give myself fortnightly & monthly billable hours targets and keep these numbers in view.

I need a sanctuary…

Get up early and take a shower just like you had a day job, it really makes you feel better about getting started with your work day.

Leave your house for lunch, even if I make a sandwich at home, I’ll go eat it down at the beach. Spending all that time in your place can make you go insane.

Exercise…there’s no excuse anymore when you are on your own schedule, and it gives you energy and gets your creative juices flowing.

Open your windows…I am an A/C junkie….but something about a fresh breeze coming in and hearing nature outside your window makes the work day better.

If I am on downtime waiting for ad revisions or files from a client, or simply not busy that day, don’t just sit at your computer for the sake of it toying on the internet. Use that time to get away from your computer and focus on other things in life.