I’ve been working from home for over ten years and I believe it’s very important that your work environment be conducive to working effectively. The right environment can really empower you to work at your full potential. The wrong environment will slow you down.

One of the benefits of working from home is that you have control over your own environment. No more cubicles! You’re the boss so make sure you make the best of it by following these tips.

•  To start with you need to remove clutter. Clutter drains your energy. If you clear out the clutter you’ll instantly feel more enthusiastic and energetic. Then, create a system to manage clutter on a regular basis or it will be back in a matter of days.

•  Make sure you have all the tools you need to do your job accessible and functioning properly. There’s nothing more frustrating than hassling with an old photo copier or stapler when you’re trying to get your proposal out the door.

•  Create a boundary between your work space and your home. Having a separate entrance to your home office is ideal. If that’s not an option try create your work space in an area as far from your bedroom as possible.

•  Position your desk so that you don’t have your back to the door. I recently had my office reviewed by a Feng Shui expert and this is what she recommended. Now that my desk faces outward, I’m in command central and don’t have my back to others.

•  Surround yourself with colors, images and items that help you feel energetic and successful. Try to design a home office that reflects the energy you want to project.

•  Be mindful of the quality of air and light in your home office since this has a direct impact on your energy level. If possible position yourself by a window with natural light or consider investing in full-spectrum lights. Make sure you have air-purifying plants in your office as well.

•  Consider hiring a Feng Shui expert. Feng Shui is the ancient Chinese art of placement and design used to balance and enhance the energy flow in our living environments. Feng Shui experts can advise you on creating an environment that sparks your creativity and allows money to flow.

Working from home brings numerous benefits and the right environment can help you be more successful. Some effort is involved but by creating harmony and balance in your physical environment you can empower yourself and your business.

Recently I had one of those weeks where nothing seemed to be going right, or at least that’s how it seemed. Because I wasn’t feeling like myself, I chose not to pick up the phone–not wanting to put my negative energy out there. Instead, I spent a few days just responding to emails that came in, reacting to problems that needed to be solved. Guess what? The more problems I solved, the more problems showed up.

What did I do to shift out of this place? First, I went through some of my mindset exercises to get myself refocused on my priorities, and also get my energy back in a healthy place. For me, what always makes me feel better, and sets the universe back in motion positively, is that I start reaching out to people and connecting. Something magical always happens when I do this. That first phone call is often hard, but once I get a kind voice on the other end, I get in a groove. I remember how much I absolutely love speaking with others and connecting.

For me, and others I know, email can be a trap. We’re working from home, we’ve got a few minutes to say something, and we jot off an email. We think we’re communicating and developing relationships, but we’re really just getting stuff done. Email can be very passive and allow you to hide behind your computer.

To truly be successful in your business, which is built on relationships, you’ve sometimes got to shut the computer down and pick up the phone. Magic happens.

When it comes to emails, I often think what’s the harm in checking them? I need to take care of things, don’t I? Yes, but when you check your email you’re reacting to someone else. Email can take you off course. My advice to you (and to myself) is to make sure you’re spending enough of your time truly connecting with a live person – on the phone or in person. That’s what’s really going to add richness to your life, make your business a lot more fun and ultimately a lot more successful.