Many internet marketers who are just starting out probably suffer from procrastination when working on developing their online businesses - like me. What causes procrastination? I procrastinate when I lose focus of the job at hand. I am a new internet business owner and am discovering ways to stay disciplined when I'm working on my internet business. It is really hard because working from home means not having fixed working hours like when one is used to have working in an office. So, these are five ways I have come up with so far (still tweaking them) and am sticking with to remain focused on my job.

1. Minimizing distractions

By distractions I mean noise, people interrupting me and things that divert my attention like having the Facebook page open. Now when I need to work, I choose a time when there is no one in the house, hence there's no one watching the television or listening to the radio while I'm working. What about things like Facebook and e-mail? This is something I overcome by sheer will power. I only allow myself 15 minutes to check whatever new messages I have before I start working on my blog or doing research about articles. I don't check my messages again until I have completed all the tasks I have set for myself.

2. Prioritizing tasks

Some tasks are more important than others. Needless to say, those that are urgent are on top of the list and I would finish them first before I start another one. That way, at least some of them are completed and not all of them are left half completed. When I cannot finish something today, I make a note to myself to definitely finish it as soon as I can tomorrow. This is really important when blogging because you need to come up with regular articles consistently so your readers will know when to expect your new awesome write-ups.

3. Pretend that I'm working in an office

As I said earlier, not having fixed working hours can be a major cause of losing focus. Having the freedom of working at home means not having to wake up early. So even if you decide to start working at 10 or 11 in the morning, make sure you allocate a certain number of hours to work in a day. I do this by pretending that I'm still working for someone else in a company. The good news is, I can divide my 6-hour working day into 3 sessions!

4. Satisfying your hunger before working or during set breaks

I am not a fan of feeling hungry during work. Eating is supposed to be done at leisure and without stress. So, satisfying my hunger before working is a great way to stay focused when I'm working on my online business. You can even have snacks as a reward during your break from work to get you ready for the next round on the computer. Also remember to drink a lot of water to stay cool and hydrated.

5. Setting achievable small goals each day

I am sure many of you feel frustrated when you cannot achieve something quickly and lose the motivation to continue. Though it is not wrong to set a big goal, you can break down that goal to smaller daily goals so that you don't feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the work you need to do. Achieving a big dream is the accumulation of work done steadily, one day at a time. If one fails at a big goal, the disappointment felt could be so huge as to dampen one's will to continue working on the online business. Don't let that happen to you.

Hopefully, the 5 ways I have come up with for you to stay focused on your internet business will keep you on the right track in reaching greater success and a sense of self achievement. Don't allow yourself to fail at being successful just because you cannot stay focused and allow other factors to influence your well thought out plans. How do you stay focused while you work from home? Maybe you can share some more creative ideas so we all can benefit too!