Struggling with how best to work from home? Easily distracted? Losing focus? Here are 5 top tips which might help you work smarter from home…

1. Get started early

When working in an office, your morning commute can help you wake up and feel ready for work. However, at home the transition from your pillow to your computer can be much more difficult. One way to work from home more productively is to dive into your to-do list as soon as you wake up. Simply starting your workload first thing in the morning can be the key to making progress. Otherwise, you’ll prolong breakfast and let the morning sluggishness wear away your motivation.

2. Pretend like you are going to the office

The mental association you make between work and an office can make you feel more productive, and there’s no reason why you shouldn’t feel less productive when working from home. When working from home, you should do all the things you’d do if you were going to the office: Set an alarm, make coffee, and wear nice clothes. Get everything ready for the day.

3. Structure your day like you would in the office

When working from home, you’re like your own personal manager. Without things like an in-person meeting schedule to break up your day, you can be quick to lose focus or burn out. To stay on schedule, plan out what you’ll do and when over the course of the day. Set reminders throughout the day on when to start something different. Teams calendar makes this easy.