Congratulations! You get to keep your job and do it in your pajamas. Your workstation is literally a few steps away from your bed and you prep your morning coffee without dreading the commute to your office. It’s everything you’ve ever dreamed of - or so you thought. While some people claim that working from home is the perfect mix of comfort and productivity, it’s not exactly as smooth as any first-timer would expect.

Along with the comforts of home, you’ll find that a plethora of distractions will always be laying around to keep you from doing a good day’s work. Be it the video game console by the TV, a pile of dishes by the kitchen sink, or your bed inviting you back for a quick snooze, you’ll soon realize that it only takes so little to trip into the pitfall of unproductivity - that's why we’re here to make sure that doesn’t happen to you. Stick around and read through some tips to help you get up to speed with this new lifestyle shift.

Pretend like you’re going to the office

Getting over a daily routine can feel like letting go of a part of you. It’s not comfortable to do at all. The good news is, you don’t have to get rid of this routine at all. Wake up early, get dressed and be off to work.

Familiarize your remote-work applications

Keeping a team together might be harder when your members are literally apart from each other. Most companies resort to communication apps to get updates and make conversations with teammates in real-time. Get to know your way around the tools your company suggested you use and you’re good to go.

Settle in a space dedicated for work

Just because you can set up your workstation right next to your bed doesn’t mean you should. If you can help it, take your gear out of the bedroom and put it somewhere that’s far from distractions.

Be available

It certainly feels different working in an area where you don’t have your manager breathing down your neck. Something like this could lead you to be heavily complacent with your work so always remember to limit your breaks, finish your deliverables in advance, and always be online because you’ll never know when your boss would pop-up in your inbox.

Clock out

Sometimes working from home can blur your work boundaries and you end up either working way past your schedule or getting nothing done at all. Start on time, end your shift on time and you have the rest of the day to yourself.