You gotta do what you gotta do. When you’re a startup, sometimes that means your home is your office and vice versa. There are all kinds of advantages: saving money, no commute, good music all day, nice homemade lunch, working all morning in your underwear, etc. Of course there are some disadvantages too: no work-home separation, ease of distraction and lack of colleagues to feed off of among other things.

What follows are some tips that I’ve discovered help me out. Everybody is different, so ultimately it’s only important to find what works for you. These are simple things that can help immensely if you get in the habit of adhering to them.

Get up. This one probably seems pretty stupid but you wouldn’t believe how easy it is to let this slide, especially when you’re working late nights. Set an alarm. Get up and get your day going as if you were going to the office. Be diligent about this.

Get out. Since you’ll be at home for ridiculous amounts of time, make sure to not become a bubble boy. Find a coffeshop with good free wireless. Make this a part of your weekly routine. In San Francisco I recommend The Grove and Ritual Coffee Roasters ( Http://ritualroasters.com). It’s where I found my new designer ( http://shearshear.com) for OnMyList (http://www.onmylist.com ).

I also find it extremely helpful to go for a short walk every now and again. Exercise aside, just getting out of the house is a major brain refresher.

Get dressed. Here’s another one that might seem stupid on the surface. However putting something semi nice on every once in a while gets you into a work frame of mind. Don’t ask why, but it does. Now that you’re up and you’re dressed…

No TV. TV is the kiss of death. Don’t even turn it on. Ever.

Work area. Carve out some space that is designated for work. Create some separation from the rest of your living space if possible. A separate room. A plant. A room-divider. A bookshelf. Although it may seem cosmetic, it’s an important mental suggestion to yourself. “This is where I work. This is where I live.”

Schedule time off. When you work from home it’s almost impossible to ever really get away from work. Trust me you need to. Schedule some off campus activities and treat them like a scheduled work meeting. Put them in your calendar. Go to a museum, the beach or a daytime baseball game. Whatever blows your skirt up.

Have some tips of your own? I’d be interested in seeing what works for you.

- Noah Dorrance is the founder and CEO of OnMyList.com