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Working from home presents many dangers to the solo entrepreneur. I’m going to outline seven of these dangers, hoping that you won’t make these mistakes. You see, I’ve recently moved to working from home full time. Before this, I did a combination of on-site contractor work and working from home. Now that I am at home full time, I’ve come across some trouble spots that could affect your business.

Read these, think on them, and see how these dangers fit into your own situation. If you haven’t yet made the transition to moving from your office to your home office, these items are of special importance.

1. You will be able to wake up when your body is ready to do so. What’s better: Getting enough sleep every night, or sitting at your desk at a certain time?

2. The TV calls. That television is just sitting there, calling you to it with movies, your favorite DVR’d shows, or your gaming console of choice. It’s there and it’s hard to resist. What’s the harm in a little indulgence? NOTHING. Well, so long as it doesn’t interfere with your daily cashflow. I watch TV or play a little bit of my current video game when I’m eating or just taking a break to clear my head. And I do that whenever I need to, not on someone else’s clock. Honestly, what’s the harm in goofing off in front of the TV if that’s what you need to do to maintain your own personal efficiency.

As a side note, I once knew a guy that — I swear — had the word “efficiency” confused with the phrase “work constantly without stopping no matter what.” Now that’s a seriously messed up outlook. If you need to give the TV some attention to give yourself a break and maintain efficiency, do it.

3. Hygiene. What’s the point? When you don’t have to be anywhere, why shower or brush your teeth? Until you can’t stand your own smell, is there really a point? OK, a couple of things come to mind: Cavities, fungus growing in weird places on your body, and burning holes in your clothing from your stench and the aforementioned fungus (also bacteria). Basically, you will become gross.

Don’t worry, though. You can shower and brush your teeth whenever you want. I usually wait until mid-morning. I get up, take some coffee, goof off, work some, then clean myself up. It works. Don’t neglect your personal hygiene, but keep in mind that you can do it whenever you want.

4. You will be tempted to buy things with all that gas money and lunch money you no longer have to spend. Those two things add up to a lot. What are you going to do with that extra money? Go out to eat every day anyway? Blow it on a new $60 video game each week, and then buy a bunch of candy just because you can?

No. Although all that is tempting, you should instead invest that money in your business. Either just save it as operating cash, or spend it on marketing.

5. You’re going to have time on your hands. Crave interruptions and useless meetings? You won’t find any here. When you work from your home office, you don’t get distractions or time wasters. You just get your work done and then live the lifestyle you want with all the “free time” you create by cutting out the nonsense.

6. Your stress levels will decrease to unheard-of levels. Never before has your stress been so low. This can cause some people to panic, as they are used to being in a state of “near-stroke” all the time. If you find yourself panicking, don’t worry. Just take a moment, watch some TV, take a nap, and forget about it. You’ll feel better. Not having to deal with all the crap associated with the modern workplace can drastically reduce your stress levels. Your body may react…strangely, but don’t worry. It will pass. There is hope, and you can learn to live with your decreased stress levels. People do it every day. You can, too.

7. What are you going to do with all that earning potential? That’s right, now that you are working from home, you can remove that earning cap previously placed on you by your corporate overlords (aka your “Boss”). How much you earn is up to you, and how much you pay yourself is also up to you. There are no limits except those you place on yourself.

If you haven’t yet broken free and started to work from home, make it your primary life goal. It’s so much better on the outside. It really is.

Everyone can use a little boost, and I think that most of us can use some improvement in the “quality of life” area. I know I can. And if you’re stuck in a job you hate (or just really, really don’t like), then you can use a boost, too. Do these five things today — or tomorrow if you are reading this at night — and you’ll probably have a better day.

1) Go outside and spend some time there. We humans used to spend a lot of time outside, and since the sun is good for us (Vitamin D), we should all spend more time outside. Go out there. Unplug for a while and soak up some rays.

2) Spend one-on-one time with a family member. Take the time to have some 1 on 1 time with some member of your family. If you live alone, call your parents, a sibling, your favorite aunt, or someone similar. If you literally have no family, spend time with a friend. If you don’t have any family or any friends, stop reading right now and go meet some people!

3) Treat yourself to a delicious meal at a restaurant. Good food is great. It just makes us feel good. Get some really yummy food. Induldge yourself just a little.

4) Laugh out loud. That’s right. Laugh. Watch a funny movie. Go see a funny show. Do or watch something that really makes you laugh. Make sure it’s really good, because I really want you to laugh hard.

5) Get lots of sleep tonight. Most people these days don’t get enough sleep. Sure, you can function just fine on too little sleep, but you won’t be at your best. I’m not going to tell you how long you should sleep. Even though there are some generalized guidelines, everyone is different. For me a good night’s sleep is 9 – 11 hours solid. What about you?

There are your five tips. Do them often, and if you can squeeze all of them into one day, do it. It will make your life just a little bit better. You’ll get that boost you need to get through another week until you free yourself.

If you have anything to add, or have something that works really great for you, leave a comment. It can be anything: Pizza, sex, serious dramatic movies, walking your dog — whatever gives you a boost. Tell us about it!

Picture your goal – your light at the end of the tunnel. What do you see?

When you think about how you can improve your life, you have to start with your vision of the future. Picture a future where you are doing what you want, when you want, and how you want. Don’t worry about how you are going to get there right now. That will come later. What I want you to focus on is your image of your future.

Not everyone wants to create a business where they get up and go do a job. Some people want to do business on the Internet, from the comfort of their own home. Is that you? Do you want to create a successful and automated company that runs online, leaving you the time to do what you want with your life?

Imagine not feeling the day to day dread of going to the office.

Imagine not having a “case of the Mondays.”

Imagine not feeling the Sunday evening blues.

Imagine being in control of your life and your future.

Seem like a pipe dream? It’s not. You can have the lifestyle you want. All you have to do is make it happen.

Learn what it takes to create success by seeing and building your ultimate Internet lifestyle:

The 3 Pillars of Designing Your Ultimate Internet Lifestyle

Don’t wait around for something to happen to you. Make it happen.