Working from home

I am at home waiting for a repairman to come this morning and am once again caught up in the eternal quandry of how to work at home.  I brought home work I can very easily do here - writing up some of the research I did late last week, and I am determined.  There are just so many more distractions here at home.

It's not like the office is any better.  There, there's always someone dropping by to say hi and to pass on the latest gossip.  I love that, love seeing my friends, hearing the latest goings-on and chitchatting.  

How can you really get stuck into work though?  

Then again, I work well when I'm flitting back and forth, but I always feel more accomplished if I've put in a solid couple of hours in of reading and writing.  Unfortunately, the only place that has recently allowed me to work steadily has been the coffee shop down the road, which gets expensive in tea.  Maybe I'll drop by later, but I sure hope I can get settled into working somewhere else.

How do you guys get settled into a working headspace?  What do you do to get yourself in the mood?  Do you force it if you're not feeling it?