The first thing everyone says about working online from home that is so great is that you get to be your own boss.
This sounds great until you ask yourself, "What are the responsibilities of a boss?" This is important to think through because working online from home with your own business means you are the boss so it is important you understand these responsibilities.
It also requires you to understand that this is a special situation because you are both the boss and the employee.
So let me give you some principles and concepts to consider so when you are you working online from home you can become the boss you need to be for the employee that is also you.
Responsibilities of a boss:

1. Make sure your employees show up on time ready to work.
   
2. Decide what needs to be done and the order of importance of each task and each project.
   
3. Make sure each employee understands what he or she is supposed to do and the quality of work expected AND a schedule of time, or deadline, when a certain task or tasks should be completed.
   
4. Organize and manage the employees so the individual tasks come together to be a completed project.
   
5. After each task is completed review what has been done and award compliments for a job well done or examine why a particular task proved difficult for someone and took longer than expected.
   
6. Create a firm, positive work environment that gets the most out of the employees.
   
7. Be ready to accept and understand any difficulties or any situations that arise that could affect the flow of work and address them in a positive fashion so the situation is resolved without a loss of morale.
   (I still struggle with this last one as working online from home by myself I sometimes allow frustration to get the best of me.
   )

Since working online from home means you are your own boss you are responsible for the above.
However, there are some adjustments to be made to the above list when working online from home if you want to bring the best out of yourself since you are both boss and employee.

1. You have to discipline yourself to sit down and work and accomplish something.
   There is no one but you to make sure you show up to work.
   The accountability factor is entirely on your shoulders.
   
2. When working online, especially when learning something new and then doing it, it is hard to put an exact deadline on some things as you have never done them before.
   
3. All sorts of little gremlins exist in your computer and on the Internet.
   Software can jam, computers sometimes need to have every file closed, shut down, and then rebooted to clear up a problem.
   This can take 10 minutes as you'll have to re-open the files and websites you were using and then get yourself back into the flow of what you were doing.
   
4. You have to make a list of what needs to be done and break done each item in that list to individual specific tasks.
   
5. You will get interrupted especially working online from home when other people are present in the home.
   It is just a way of life.
   You have to accept these 'Life Happens' incidents and learn to calmly let go of what you are working on, help out with whatever the person needs, then return to work in a calm fashion so you can easily pick up where you left off and get right back into a good grove.
   
6. Be honest with yourself as far as how well you perceive you have done.
   If you really applied yourself and it just happened to be something you struggled with and took a lot longer than you wanted as well as maybe being what you would consider to be sub-par work, don't beat yourself up.
   

For the last one tell yourself you persevered and finished the task and you might deserve a pat on the back as after all, working from home online also means you are the one who must somehow reward yourself when putting in a good solid effort and taking a particular task to completion.
But if you feel you could have done better ask yourself what you experienced that made you struggle and think about what you can do in the future to avoid repeating that experience.
When working online from home all by yourself if you have a day that really rocks, Congratulate yourself loudly and feel free to feel great! It is up to you to honestly find that line where you are pushing yourself to do your best without putting extreme pressure on yourself.
The idea is you want an honest, organized, intelligent, sustained, disciplined effort.
Remember when working online from home you have to find the best way to bring out the best in yourself.