There are many great things to be said about working from home. There isn’t a boss looking over your shoulder or coworkers to distract you. You can spend more time with your family and set your own hours. Plus, you don’t need to wear a uniform.

These benefits do come easy when you work remotely, but a healthy lifestyle often doesn’t. When you work from home, skipping regular meals, social interaction, workouts, and even sleep can easily become second nature. Whether you’re new to remote working or have been doing so for years, here are ten ways to stay healthy.

1. Establish A Regular Routine

Distractions are a huge productivity killer, and, unfortunately, are all around you when you work from home. There are the dirty dishes to be cleaned, Netflix shows to be binged, and pets that want to be played with.

In the moment, doing any one of these things is going to be more appealing than your work. Unfortunately, just a few hours later, you’ll be left feeling stressed. To ensure you stay on task, you should schedule your day and establish a regular routine.

2. Dress For The Day

There’s no dress code for working remotely, which means that you could theoretically wear whatever you wanted to. For some people, this means jeans and a t-shirt, while others prefer to wear trousers and a shirt like they would in any other office.

If your go-to outfit is the pajamas that you wore the night before, then changes need to be made. You’ll struggle to feel productive if you wear clothes that you sleep in to work, and, as such, will get very little done each day.

3. Create A Dedicated Workspace

To work your best each day, your physical surroundings must be conducive to a productive mindset. For this reason, you should create a dedicated area in your house from which to work.

If you have the space, clear out an entire room and hire a garbage collection service to pick up all the unwanted junk. Then, you can turn this space into a home office. When an entire room isn’t an option, you need to find ways to separate a workspace from the rest of the room.

4. Choose A Good Chair

One of the most important elements of an efficient and productive workspace is the chair. After all, it’s going to be difficult to work your best if you’re suffering from back and neck pain from hunching over your desk all day.

The chair that you choose should be comfortable, of course, but not so comfortable that you slouch. You need support if you’re going to maintain a good posture. This is why you should avoid working from your bed or couch, no matter how fun it may be.

5. Make Time For Exercise

A huge benefit of working from home is that your schedule can be more flexible. This means that you can choose when you want to work out, and, as such, there are no excuses not to.

It doesn’t matter how much work you have to do; you should try to make time for exercise every day. Not only will this help to maintain fitness and a healthy weight, but it reduces stress and increases productivity too. Ensure you choose a specific workout time, so you’re less tempted to skip it.

6. Keep A Healthy Kitchen

When you work in an office, your food options are often limited to whatever you bring with you to work. If you don’t pack a lunch, then you need to leave the office on your break to go and pick something up. Working at home, however, means that you have access to everything in your kitchen.

While this means you have the choice to pick something healthy, most of us would do the opposite. To avoid this, you should clear out the cupboards and only stock healthy snacks.

7. Take Plenty Of Breaks

Sitting at a desk can quickly become uncomfortable, which is why you should take plenty of breaks throughout the day. When you work on a computer, this is especially vital, as it allows your eyes some time to rest.

Every hour or so, remember to get up from your desk and do something else for ten minutes. This could be preparing a snack or just walking around the house. If you forget to take these breaks, then set an alarm to remind you.

8. Get Out The House

Sitting inside your house all day every day is far from healthy. It doesn’t allow you to get much fresh air or natural light and means that you have very little to no social interaction.

For this reason, you should make a point of leaving the house at least once every single day. Some remote workers like to take their laptop with them and sit working in a cafe for a few hours. You could also try walking your dog or taking your children to the park for a little while.

9. Develop A Shutdown Ritual

Traditional office settings make it clear when the workday is over. The lights begin to shut off, your coworkers start to head home, and you pack up your things and do the same.

When you’re already at home, however, the line between your personal and professional life can blur. Allowing this to happen can cause unnecessary stress, as you’ll always be in work mode. To make it clear when work is over, you should develop your very own shutdown ritual at home.

10. Find An Accountability Buddy

The camaraderie and support of your coworkers is often what keeps you moving during difficult days in a traditional workspace. Remote working, unfortunately, has none of this, and, in fact, usually involves very little interaction with others at all.

Because of this, you should find another telecommuter or a friend who wants to be a little healthier. This support will hold you accountable for your unhealthy actions and praise you when you make better choices.

Staying healthy when working from home can be difficult, but, if you follow the advice above, it’s definitely possible.