The following is a guest post from Jamie Claros.

With an exceptionally cold winter and bouts of extreme weather (thank you, Polar Vortex), I have now found myself stranded at home twice, unable to take mass transit to my office. As a commuter from New Jersey, getting to New York in the morning can already be tough; traffic is brutal in the early hours, and accidents on the road are unfortunately too common. Adding inclement weather, as you may guess, does not make it any easier. And while this may seem like an inconvenience, it’s a great excuse to stay in my pajamas and work peacefully from home certain days.

Sure, being stuck working from home may not be the ideal sometimes–if you have meetings scheduled, it may actually present a problem or, if you’re like me, access to a second computer screen may be impossible, severely limiting your work space and slowing down your flow. However, working from home definitely has its advantages.

For example, cutting out the commute means more time to sleep in (even if it is only a short time), and it also inevitably means staying in your most comfortable clothes and working in a way that is most comfortable for you. Most importantly, though, working from home allows for a sweet respite from the humdrum (or depending on your job, the chaos) of an office building and affords you some time to enjoy a place that is uniquely yours: your home. You can enjoy a home-cooked breakfast and/or lunch from your own kitchen, lounge on your favorite furniture if you have a minute, and overall be in a place where you are most comfortable.

In Florida, this might mean positioning yourself by a window to enjoy the sunshine and warmth, and in Aspen this might mean overlooking the mountains and picturesque snowy slopes. Depending on your environment and your preference, your home office can become a space that is unique to you and your work style. For me, simplicity and comfort are key, and I tend to pull an end table to a couch so I can lounge at ease while I work. For someone else, a more structured office space might be preferential.

And while not everybody can afford the luxury of having their own home office or designated space to do work, there are some ways to spruce up the space you already have to make it a more work-friendly area for those days you just can’t, or don’t want to, make it into the office. For some ideas, check out this great article.

Header image courtesy of Flickr user newchaos