Lifehacker points to an article from Smart Money about working from home. The gist of the article suggests that when you work from home there needs to be a set of rules created to ensure you are giving work its fair share of time.

Basically, you've got to set boundaries between your work life and your home life. For instance, my kids are welcome to come downstairs and read a book while I'm working, but they know (most of the time) that when Mommy has her hypothetical work hat on, she can't keep running upstairs to see how the cat is looking out the window for the 34th time.

It is easy to get distracted at home from the various needy household tasks or even relatives who do not understand the working from home concept.

I know that for me I have to draw boundaries very tightly even when there is no apparent reason to do so. I start my day at work from my office and do not break until I have covered my "Daily To Do List". When that has been completed, I give myself 30 minutes to do anything needy from the home side of my day, and then back to work on "new ground" tasks, such as making new sales calls and calling current customers to up-sell.

"Balancing work and life: Running a Home-Based Business" is a must read for those who work from home!