Video: If you work from home, you know how important it is to stay connected with your boss and coworkers via email and chat programs such as Slack. The trouble is, text-only communication can leave a lot up to the imagination in terms of tone. Is your online boss really a jerk who hates everything you do? Or are you just reading their messages in the worst way possible?

Working in a traditional office has its perks. Unlimited coffee, a decent selection of snacks, and the presence of an actual photocopier can make a huge difference in your productivity. If you don’t have a traditional workplace, or you’re planning to get some work done on your holiday — to the “delight” of your travelling companions — consider Coworker.

My daily commute is about 30 slow, zombie shuffles between my bedroom and my home office. While I'm grateful to say I have the option to work wherever and whenever I want, I sometimes love-hate my arrangement. Because working from home has a way of slowly sucking away your sanity.

A few years ago, I decided to ditch working the corporate life, in favour of freelancing. There were a number of factors in that decision. Things like not enjoying my job, wanting to know if I could make it on my own and freedom to pursue passion projects and spend more time with my kids. The cost of that was the reassurance of a steady pay-packet each month. Telsyte's Australian Digital Workplace Study 2017 suggests more than half of Aussie workers would trade cash for more flexible work arrangements.

Because I both work and travel, I choose destinations based on a few important things: Fast, reliable internet; food; general safety; culture; and foo -- oops, I said that already. One of the key resources I use for learning more about a place before I go is NomadList, a handy resource that's built for digital nomads or work-from-anywhere folks like myself.

I like people, but I've always been kind of shy and I cherish my alone time. When I started working from home, I looked forward to that time: No more meetings, small talk or awkward happy hours. It was fine for a while, but then I got lonely. Worse, I developed mild social anxiety. Even a trip to the grocery store seemed like an obstacle. I had to do something about it.

Working from home blurs a lot of lines between your productivity and relaxation. To help keep yourself on track, create a time clock for yourself so you can punch out at the end of the day.

Small business owners and freelancers often have the flexibility to work from home. The problem is, the home provides many distractions. Here are some of the biggest culprits and how to steer clear of them so you can stay productive.

With the end of financial year just past us, many Aussie businesses use this time of year to look at promotions and salary reviews. While many of your employees may be gunning for a pay rise, it could be a good time to look at what benefits you could offer aside from cold, hard cash.

There are many people who want to quit their '9-to-5' jobs to become their own boss so they can set their own work hours and agenda. This kind of freedom is appealing and it motivates people to strike out on their own and become entrepreneurs. But if you think working for yourself will be easy, startup mentor Jon Westenberg is here to give you a reality check.

We've all seen the ads: "Make $2000 a week working from home," or, ahem, "Start working at home with Google." But have you ever wondered what happens when you actually try to sign up for one of those programs? Planet Money figured that out.

If you and your partner both work from home, you're familiar with the unique challenges it can present to your relationship. From feeling like you're always on top of each other to having all of your quality time interrupted, the freelance life can be rough on relationships. Here's how to keep the spark when you both work from home.

If you spend some or all of your time working from home, choosing a new device is a little more involved than just poring through spec sheets and picking something with a decent price. Here are the key issues you need to consider.

Working from home, whether it's once in a while or every day, doesn't make you immune to the social weirdness that comes with other people. In fact, being physically removed from your coworkers can make communicating that much stranger. Here's what you need to know to avoid awkward silences in chat rooms, flat jokes on conference calls, or just feeling isolated from the rest of your colleagues.

Keeping a healthy work-life balance can be tough when you work from home. You've probably heard it helps to dress like you're going into the office. This separates your "work" mindset from your "home" mindset. Take that idea a step further by changing out of those "work clothes" at the end of the day.

Kids have a knack for demanding attention at the worst moments, especially for the parent who works from home. Practise specific work scenarios, like conference calls, so your children remember how to behave when they really happen.

If you're able to work from home or remotely, you have more flexibility when it comes to deciding where to live. But not all cities are friendly to telecommuting. This filterable list from NomadList ranks cities for cost of living, internet speeds, weather and more.

Productivity is a challenge when you're working for yourself or working remotely. Joel Runyon offers a somewhat radical idea to help telecommuters become not just more productive but uber productive: Group your tasks into three groups and work from three different locations throughout the day.

Being your own boss is great. Being your own boss is also hell sometimes. After going from a (cushy) work-from-home salaried employee job to fending for myself as a freelancer, this is what I wish I had known when I started.