Further to my earlier excitable post about getting my application approved, etc, I now have more or less everything in place to start my PhD at the end of March. The university I'm preparing to study at is in Ireland and I live in Scotland. Getting over for supervisions, meetings and/or teaching won't be an issue, and I already have friends who can provide a crash pad there for me.

At home, we're lucky enough to have a big old apartment with enough space for me to have my own 'study', which is a big bright room looking down onto the street.

However, after six months unemployed, I've probably got into some bad habits about my day to day routine. I'm interested to hear how other people who work from home (especially those who are some distance from their university) structure their work day and keep procrastination and/or distraction at bay. How does your working day pan out? Is there a regular pattern, and does having your own desk / space help or hinder?

Thanks!

I work from home and have my own place to study. Sometimes I go into the library at the local university to work (not the university where I am studying!) otherwise I am at home. Here is my (quite flexible!) schedule:
8.30 take son to school
8.45 start work (or half an hour later if I go for a cappuccino with a friend!)

*write out everything I hope to achieve today*
do above tasks in bursts of about 45 minutes (sometimes I have to set a timer to sit down that long, other times I work through if it is something that really grabs me) followed by a 15 minute break or 15 minute piano practise or 15 minute housework "break"

Repeat until lunchtime!
13.00 Lunch (30 minutes)
Start working again ...with 15 minute breaks / housework every 45 minutes to an hour!

I get really sleepy round about 2.30 so I have just started having a 1/2 hour nap at that time - I then find I can produce a lot more in the afternoon.

4.30 pick up son from school

Written down I sound like a bit of a slacker 8-) but actually since I have been doing this rather than trying to work continuously all day I have got so much more done -and I have a cleaner house!

I also want to start going swimming twice a week but not sure if I can fit it in as I am really tied to the school opening hours and can't really work in the evening.

One other thing - I only have the computer on if I actually need it for work, otherwise I get sucked into the internet vortex.

My day is very similar Wed- Fri. 9 am, drop daughter with childminder, come back, have breakfast listening to radio 4, then start work about 9.45. I also take 'housework breaks' and make a tea/coffee usually mid morning and mid afternoon. I don't stop long for lunch - about 30 mins. Work til 6-7 depending on how it's giong and whether I'm dooking dinner. Sometimes go back to work after dinner (break 7.30-8 -8.30 for my part of bedtime routine) until 9.30 -10 then some trashy telly and a(nother) glass of wine. Saturday I work from 10.30-5 but take less breaks. Mon and Tues I generally don't work as I have no childcare and i find it very difficult to get into it in the evening when I haven't worked for a day or two.

The internet vortex is the biggest problem. All my work involves the pc - I'm doomed. You have to somehow ration yourself with your internet activities - but it's very tough. Time just passes :p

Routine works best for me and I think I keep to it better because me time is a bit limited by childcare - i.e. rather than feel available for work all the time clear some hours of the day for work.

Very regular deadlines too. I sometimes do the daily list thing too so I know what I should be getting done.

ooops - spelling disasters

Your schedule will differ depending on the stage of your PhD - i.e, the first few months might be reading, with no real schedule, then by the time you write up you're getting up super early etc. For the last three years I've tried to stick to 9/10-5/6, at the moment I'm working through lunches but I try and keep the evenings free, or else I'd go mad.

hi, i'm 7 months in and am currently working approx 9-4, but i don't tend to take much of a lunch break, if any. i think it is important to have your own space to work in - i could work from home but choose to come into the office each day as i would find being at home too distracting! i find i work better when i set myself a definite time at which i can go home, bt everyone works differently. i allow myself 30mins or so checking emails, doing admin type stuff in the morning (usually longer on mondays as it takes me a while to get into a work frame of mind!) and then a few mins at lunchtime for facebooking etc. i have to be quite strict with myself and if i'm in a really procrastinating mood i have to shut down the internet on my pc and just have open word/excel or whatever.
on the occasions i do work from home i get up as if i was going into work and get myself dressed as if i was going out somewhere (if i stay in my pj's i feel less like working somehow!). then it's just a case of being strict with yourself and not getting distracted by other things that need to be done at home - leave these until after you have finished 'work'.

Thanks for the replies; they're all interesting and suggest similar issues to what I'm fearful of... especially the internet sucking me away from work and nurturing the point-and-click attention span. That seems to afflict many of us young 'uns who have grown up with it always on tap... my wireless router has a convenient on/off switch and it's in another part of the apartment, so I may self impose a workday switch off when I don't need to be online.
Reading the papers this weekend I always enjoy turning to the second or third page of the Guardian review where there's now a photo feature called "Writer's Rooms", in which an author writes about a photograph of the room in which they work. Perhaps a future thread on this forum, seeing how other people work!

I have my own desk in the bedroom so even though we have a 1 bed flat I can work when my boyfriend's in without having to worry about getting in his way. I go into the university once or twice a week which is about an hour's drive when I have classes or supervision. I also go up to the library in London about once a week for the day. I'm in my first year so the other days I tend to start work around 9 with a coffee and check emails/do admin things, then I tend to work through (with occasional internet distractions/making food for dinner etc) until my boyfriend gets home after 6 when I tend to stop for the evening unless I have lots on. I often take up to an hour out for lunch. At the moment I still find I'm getting enough done!

I work from home a couple of days a week (3 days a week I have to be on campus for teaching/meetings, etc).

I am sat down to work at 8.45-9.15ish and work until 5-5.30. I do end up doing little bits of housework (mainly the laundry) sometimes so because of this I don't take much of a lunch break to make up for the time. I also decided to catch up on an episode of Eastneders one lunch time and found it really hard to get back into work so I don't bother now!
I usually go for a run when I finish work, which means the official end of my working day, which is good I think because it can be har to switch off when you work from home. I think it's rally important to have designated times where you absolutely don't do any work (the weekends are sacred for me).

I do sometimes end up Facebooking/forumming during the day when I shouldn't though but probably not any more than most people who go to work in an office every day! But be prepared for the constant feeling that you are not doing enough work.