Working from home means freedom from office life, but it also means being responsible for keeping yourself productive.

I’ve experimented with many different ways of tackling this problem over the years, with some successes, so here I share some techniques I’ve tried for keeping focused when working solo, along with my rating for how effective they are.

I often like to work in public spaces as I like the atmosphere and the company but working out of a bar was new to me. In December I was pleased to learn I had won the hopdesk in Brewdog Manchester and took up the offer of an alternative workspace. Here's what I learnt: