In the midst of everything that is going on in our world right now, many individuals are forced to work from home. Powering up the laptop to tackle tasks from your couch, dining table, or home office is becoming the new normal. This new way of working can be a gift and a curse because, on one hand, you have freedom and are not stuck to an office. On the other hand, this newfound freedom may decrease your productivity. So how do you stay focused while working remotely? The following are our top five tips:

#1 Get Started Early:
When working in an office, your morning commute can help you wake up and get ready to tackle the day by the time you get to your desk. At home, however, the transition from your pillow to your computer can be much more jarring.

Believe it or not, one way to work from home productively is to dive into your to-do list as soon as you wake up. Simply getting a project started first thing in the morning can be the key to making progress on it gradually throughout the day. Otherwise, you’ll prolong breakfast and let the morning sluggishness wear away your motivation.

#2. Designate a Space:
Toting a laptop around and working on the couch, in bed or at the kitchen is part of the working at home. But sometimes when you scatter your work around, your thoughts, papers, ideas and productivity get scattered too. You can still move around but choose a space in your home that will house your technology, files, tools and other work stuff that you can access quickly and easily.

#3 Stick to a Schedule:
When working from home, it’s easy to get distracted. It’s tempting to run the dishwasher while you work or take a break to vacuum but doing so can interrupt your flow and focus. To stay on schedule, segment what you’ll do and when over the course of the day. If you have an online calendar, create personal events and reminders that tell you when to shift gears and start on new tasks.

#4: Avoid Procrastination:
If you think it’s tempting to procrastinate at the office, it’s even worse at home, where there are more distractions. It is easy to put things off to later in the day or first thing tomorrow morning because you are not bound by office hours, but this causes stress as you can easily push yourself tight against a deadline, and if something unexpected happens — like your internet goes down — you could miss the deadline, which may have consequences for your business.

#5. Dress to Impress…Yourself!:
Resist the urge to stay in your pajamas. The clothes you wear have an impact on your work performance and productivity. When you wear sweats or pajamas, it can feel like you’re not really working, leaving you more open to distractions. Studies show that when we put on an item of clothing, it is common for the wearer to adopt the characteristics associated with that garment. A lot of clothing has symbolic meaning for us, whether it’s ‘professional work attire’ or ‘relaxing weekend wear,’ so when we put it on, we prime the brain to behave in ways consistent with that meaning.

Make a point of getting dressed every day, just as if you were going to the office. Your clothing could be the factor that actually boosts your productivity and motivation.