Looking for tips for working from home? Recently, a lot of companies are newly implementing work from home policies, which leaves many of us with an unusual challenge: working from home for the first time, full-time.

Working from home certainly has its benefits: there’s no commute, nobody’s looking over your shoulder, and you can spend the day in sweatpants! 

But remote work comes with challenges, too: distractions abound, lines between work and free time are blurred, and the lack of structure can create unhealthy habits. 

So we sought advice from people who have been doing it successfully for years, Le-Vel Promoters, and we want to share it with you. 

Here are the best 7 tips for working from home:

Set a schedule — and stick to it.

One of the top tips for working from home is to follow a routine just as if you were going to work at an office. Try to go to bed around the same time each night, and set an alarm for the same time each workday. 

Most importantly, set a time to stop working each day. Sure, it’s important to be flexible, as you would be at any job. But when you’re working from home, it’s easy to lose track of time and end up sacrificing your personal time. Balance is key to mental and physical health, so try to shut down at about the same time every day. 

Follow THRIVE’s 3 simple steps.

The 3-step THRIVE Experience, which delivers premium-grade vitamins, minerals, plant extracts, digestive enzymes, probiotics, antioxidants, protein, fiber, and other key nutrients, can help boost your energy levels and mental clarity to keep you going throughout your workday. 

Start with two THRIVE Premium Lifestyle Capsules on an empty stomach as soon as you wake up in the morning. After 20 minutes, drink gluten-free THRIVE Ultra Micronized Lifestyle Mix and apply your favorite DFT (Derma Fusion Technology) to clean, dry skin.

In addition to supporting mental acuity and helping to increase energy levels, the THRIVE Experience can also help calm general discomforts, make it easier to maintain a healthy weight, and perhaps most importantly, support a healthy immune system!

Plan and prep your meals. 

It’s always important to make healthy food choices, but that’s easier said than done when your workspace is 15 feet from the refrigerator!

Plan and portion out a nutritious breakfast (like one of these lifestyle shakes), lunch (a vitamin-packed salad with leafy greens is a good choice), and snacks (a piece of fruit and a handful of almonds or another high-protein, low-calorie snack) just as you would if you were going into the office. That way you have a healthy option ready to eat when your stomach starts gurgling so you don’t reach for the potato chips. (Even better, stock your pantry with healthy whole foods so there are no potato chips to reach for!)

Bonus tip: Stay hydrated! We often mistake hunger for thirst. So when you feel tempted to reach for a snack, drink a glass of water first.

Designate a work space.

Even though you never really “leave the office” when you work from home, it’s important to establish boundaries between “work” and “home.” Otherwise, it’s easy to feel like you always have to be working, which can quickly lead to burnout and resentment. 

Choose a spot that’s as comfortable and as free from distractions as possible. If you don’t have an extra room to designate as your “home office,” pick a location where family members won’t tend to congregate, and make sure they know that when you’re there, you’re at work.

Whether it’s a separate room or your dining room table, when you sit down at your dedicated work space, it will cue your brain that it’s time to get to work. 

Bonus tip: Hang a vision board nearby to keep you inspired!

Take breaks from your work from home position. Ideally, outdoors.

Sometimes, remote workers feel that they need to prove that they’re not slacking off, so they don’t take any breaks. But research shows that our brains work best in short bursts of high activity, followed by shorter periods of rest. 

Taking a break from work gives your brain the chance to switch gears temporarily, which enables you to better focus once you get back to the task at hand. So try to step away from your workspace for 5-15 minutes every hour..

And really do step away — don’t just switch tabs from Excel to Facebook! Take a short walk outdoors if you can. Studies show a strong correlation between exposure to daylight and quality of sleep!

Get some exercise.

We all know that exercise reduces your risk of diabetes, heart disease, and a host of other ailments, but it’s also great for clearing your mind. This is especially important when working from home, since you’re not taking the normal physical breaks (walking to and from the parking lot, taking the stairs, etc.) that you would at the office. That said, it can be harder to get motivated to move when you work remotely. 

The first step to getting enough exercise while working from home is to put it on your schedule (see tip No. 1). If working out in the morning suits you best, designate an hour before work to get your sweat on. Or try working out midday to give yourself a break from the grind (see tip No. 5). If your gym is closed, there are plenty of at-home workouts online that will get your heart pumping!

Stay connected.

Working from home can leave you feeling isolated. That’s why it’s important to have some social interaction every day, whether it’s IM-ing with a colleague or taking an after-work walk with a friend. 

Today’s technology makes it easier than ever to stay connected, whether it’s via text, email, FaceTime, or Zoom. (A good old-fashioned phone call can do the trick, too.) 

Bonus tip: Kick it up a notch and host a virtual meet-up with other professionals in your industry to share career advice and more working-from-home tips!

If working from home is a new experience for you, give yourself room to try new things and make adjustments as needed. We hope you find these tips helpful!