Working out of your house has a lot of advantages — no dress code, no commute, and more autonomy. But it also comes with unique challenges.

Whether you're an entrepreneur starting an online empire from your bedroom or a contractor telecommuting for a big corporation, here are a few bits of advice on how to effectively work from home based on my own experience:

1. Have a set schedule. The most important thing you can do when working from home is to create a set work schedule for yourself and treat it just like a work schedule you'd have in an office. If you don't, you'll never get anything done.

You see, when you work from home the tendency is to be too flexible with your time. For example, you might take a break to get a drink of water from the kitchen. When you get there you notice it's sort of messy, so you decide to clean up because, well, you're in charge of your schedule. Forty-five minutes later, you have a clean kitchen, but you haven't gotten any work done and now you need to pick up the kids from school. Whatever you wanted to get done today will have to be pushed to tomorrow.