How I Work From Home: Cam’s Pain Cave of Productivity

Telecommuting is becoming more and more common these days, with many tech writers (myself included) working from home on a full-time basis. I get asked about how I work fairly often, so here’s the skinny.

I often think that when people ask “how I do it,” they’re asking a couple of different things. For one, they want to know how to get into a career where you work from home. I can understand the appeal, but I can also tell you that working from home is no joke—it’s not as fun as you think, because you have no separation between work and home, and you have to stay focused.

That leads into the second thing I believe people want to know—they’re asking how I stay productive. It takes a certain amount of self-discipline to work from home, and keeping productivity up can be a challenge.

I’ve been working from home for nearly a decade now, and throughout that time I’ve continually tried to adjust my workflow for maximum productivity. Here’s a look at what I do, the products I use to get things done, and a few other things I do to stay productive.

I’m Cameron Summerson, the News Editor for How-To Geek and Review Geek. This is how I work.

My Home Office: The Mullet of Workspaces

My productivity “journey” starts in my home office. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about working from home, it’s that a dedicated workspace is an absolute must—sharing your workspace with the living room or bedroom is just not fun (and I say that from experience).

Technically, my workspace is still a shared space, but I share it with my hobbies instead of other people. One half is for working and the other half for fun—hence the “mullet of workspaces” subhead. Heh. The “front” half of my office holds the desk, along with all the other stuff I use for work—the TV, device charging station, and all that good stay together.