Most of what I do is option spreads. My account is pretty small so I have to work with what I have. I never buy options as there is negative edge as well as loss in value through time decay. Instead I sell and since I have a small account I don't have enough to do very many naked sells so I limit my risk by buying a cheaper option against it. This allows me to take on many more positions in quality stocks and since I am on the selling side I gain an edge in theta (time) decay. I also sell options against each other (iron condor) on underlyings that have an implied volatility of over 50%. I make the assumption that volatility tends to revert to the mean over time so as higher volatility is priced into the options I am selling I stand to gain whenever the volatility collapses.
To maximize the gain from theta I sell as close to a 45 day expiration that I can.