
Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home? - OnWriting
I often have trouble switching off from work during the week as my workspace is my 1BR apartment. I don&#x27;t have this problem on the weekends, as I don&#x27;t &#x27;start&#x27; a working day.<p>Given that not starting work during the week isn&#x27;t an option, any tips on how to switch off after-hours during the work week?
======
rcconf
I watched a YouTube video and this person explained a really neat concept.

Your life is like a game. In this game, you have different stats and you must
increase each stat. For example, in a typical game you may have:

\- Health \- Attack Level \- Money \- Magic Level

In games, you try to increase each of these stats to create the best and
strongest character. Life is very similar, but the stats are:

\- Work \- Social Life \- Money \- Fun \- Relationship \- Family \- Sleep \-
Exercise \- Relaxation

If all you do is spent all your time on Work, all the other stats will be
lacking and ultimately you will have a weak character. Your work may be at
99/100, but your Sleep may be 20/100, or your relationship/family may be
40/100\. So, the way I switch off work is that at 1:00PM I take 1 hour off of
work (no matter what.) and I do not feel bad about it because it is ultimately
increasing my Relaxation/Fun stat. At 5:30PM, I stop work entirely to focus on
everything else in life such as Fun, Relationships, Family, Exercise, Social
Life.

I find it very strange how well this model works for me. I literally separate
work entirely at 5:30PM because I know life is more than just about the Work
stat, it's about all the stats combined and you must work on each one to beat
the game or be a strong character at the game of life.

~~~
ericmcer
Actually in games usually poorly balanced characters do the best, i.e. adding
all your points to strength. Might be true in life as well, especially with
hyper-specialization being the only way to stand out in a super competitive
landscape.

~~~
m463
ok, so then hyper-specialize then reproduce at age 85.

~~~
cruano
That's a weird way of spelling sugar daddy

------
igetspam
Dedicate a work space and stay far away from it, when you're not working.
Maybe get a large whiteboard to hide it from your field of vision when not
working (bonus: whiteboard!). Separating work from personal is the most
critical part of being able to work from home without always being "at work."
I'm lucky enough to have been remote for years, so COVID hasn't changed my
pattern but I know the pattern can be hard.

Also, wear pants. They don't have robe fancy but don't sit around in your
pajamas because then you're never really "at work" and you'll never stop being
somewhere in the middle.

The people who suggest taking a walk are spot on too. You have a rather small
space for being remote. Having a "going to work" routine helps you mentally
prepare and the reverse does... well... the reverse. If you like
beer/wine/pot/games/etc, getting your favorite at-home vice/hobby going after
work is another good mental signal.

Good luck! Stay safe (mentally and physically)!

~~~
sjm
The first part is great advice but unfortunately not always easy for those in
small apartments where that space is precious. One thing that has worked for
me is to instead try to detach my work space from being purely work, and give
myself time in that space to do "me" things, whether it's reading, video
games, creative endeavors...

Also giving myself a specific window of "work time", with an alarm set to tell
me its time to stop and switch off. This has helped more than anything else.

~~~
mindcrime
_The first part is great advice but unfortunately not always easy for those in
small apartments where that space is precious._

Yeah, I struggle with that for this very reason. I have one room in my
apartment that was already my home-office / library where I would sit to work
on my personal projects and what-not. Now with this pandemic inspired WFH
situation, it's just the best place in my apartment to carry out my normal
work day. It's also still the best place to work on my own projects or just
sit and study. Sadly that means that A. I wind up spending way too much time
in here, and B. change of room isn't much of an option in terms of demarcating
the boundaries between "work time" and "my time".

But if I close down my work laptop, go take a bath (see other comment), and
the later come back in this room with my personal laptop, I get a pretty good
sense of having transitioned from one mode to the other.

Doesn't help with the sense that I spend too much time in this room though. I
gotta get back into bike riding more again or something, to have an excuse to
spend more time outdoors.

------
kissgyorgy
This trick might sound strange, but it worked well for me:

Just dress the same in the morning as you would if you would go into the
office, and at the end of the day, take off the work clothes and dress as you
would normally at home. Some makes this even further and go out for a walk
around the block so they "arrive at the office" and walk again at the end of
the day to "walk home".

Really sounds strange and funny, but it helps to put your mind in the right
mood.

~~~
varispeed
I have a lab coat with my name and company on it and I put it on in the
morning and take it off after I close all work apps. Neat trick.

~~~
InitialLastName
The neat trick is "Show HN: My computer switches to my work profile when I put
on my lab coat"

------
air7
I met a guy that was in your situation.

He would wake up with an alarm clock, shower, get dressed "properly", eat etc.
Then leave the house and walk in a predetermined path around the block to
arrive back at his house for "work". When work was over (at a set time) he
would get up, leave the house again, walk the path in reverse, and arrive
"home".

ymmv.

~~~
atorodius
Did this for a while. For anyone trying this, make sure the path is decently
long (15min is nice in my experience), and that you build it into your morning
routine - for me, I was not allowed to take my coffee before going for the
walk.

~~~
blaser-waffle
Lol same idea... except that the morning commute was _getting_ coffee. There
were 2-3 places near me, and a 4th that is kinda far, so I'd throw in an extra
around-the-block if I went to a closer one.

But yeah, get out, get moving. Inertia, man.

------
millerm
Easy, start drinking heavily before your work day is supposed to be done, and
eventually you just can't work. Hah. I kid. I have a dedicated home office, so
when I'm done I just leave the room and don't go back until the next day. But,
you don't have that option, so that's not fun.

You need to stick to a schedule.

Don't work in pajamas. Do everything you'd normally do to get ready to go to a
job and be on time (it's great that you have extra!) I just mean, shower and
get dressed sort of thing. I won't do work attire though. Yuck. At least we
toned down the business casual to jeans and stuff years ago. I can't stand
that look, and those shirts. I've always rebelled. I'm not a Kohl's mannequin.
I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt.

At the end of the day:

If you work on a company laptop, pack that thing up. Shut it down, and put it
in a backpack or whatever. The day is done.

I usually make myself leave (at least go outside) the house when I'm done.
Sometimes I get in the car to just pick something up at a store. Or just drive
for 10 minutes. I do like the peaceful drive of electric cars. Most of the
time I say "hey" to the cats and get some belly rubs in, not like they haven't
been bugging me throughout the day, and then go out in the friggin' sweltering
heat for a bit. Just to shut my brain off from work stuff. I put in some
earphones and listen to music, podcasts, audio books. Things to just get my
mind off of things and switch. I try to not hit the couch, or I'll end up
bingeing on some stupid show that I don't care about at all.

Plan on chatting with friends, family, or something at the end of the work day
as well. Get into a social mode.

In the end, screw the 60+ hour work weeks you can get sucked into. Yuck! Might
as well get a side gig instead.

~~~
tzs
> If you work on a company laptop, pack that thing up. Shut it down, and put
> it in a backpack or whatever. The day is done.

If you don't have a separate work computer, get an external bootable drive,
and do your work booted from that drive with your internal drive not mounted.
When done with the work day, boot back to your internal drive and put the
external drive in a drawer or closet.

------
mindcrime
This may be drifting into "TMI" category, but... I like to take baths. No, I
mean, not just "I bathe regularly", I mean, I take baths specifically for
relaxation and to signal a break in the day (as opposed to a morning shower
before work if I'm going into an office or otherwise going out).

If I "clock out" from my day job around 5:30pm or so, one of the first things
I do is draw a nice hot bath, jump in the tub, and sit in there and soak in
hot water and read a book, for about 45 minutes or so. A cup of coffee is
optional. When I get out, I'm now in the "my time" part of the day.

I always enjoyed taking nice long, hot baths in the evening, but it used to be
something I did much later in the evening, closer to bedtime. But I started
moving them up to the "just after work" time very specifically because I
needed some kind of act or routine or ritual to help demarcate "work" and
"after work".

~~~
mharty
I take baths before bed most nights, but I'll try this!

------
calenti
I have a room I work in - you don't have this luxury, if I didn't I'd dedicate
a space to the same purpose, even one end of a table or a corner of the living
room. When my working period starts I dress for the office (not completely, I
wear shorts and a T-shirt but due to Zoom meetings etc I clean up because I
will be on camera) and when I go into that space, that's where I work,
procrastination and fecklessness aside.

Conversely, when I leave that space I am no longer working, pages aside. I do
check in on email via phone if there are things that need to be checked on,
but otherwise I try very hard to leave my work in that place.

I think the ritual is almost as important as the place, both for "clocking in"
and "clocking out". Even if it's just open/closing a laptop or turning a
monitor on/off, it's training yourself to see that as the gate for being "on"
and being "off".

If your work laptop is your personal laptop, you might also need to have two
accounts and sign out of your work account/into your personal account at the
end of the day for Ycombinator time, personal use, etc.

~~~
BoiledCabbage
All of the above as accurate. I'd like to add, also go for a walk as soon as
you stand up from work to "commute home".

It puts a firm temporal break between work and home, and also gives you a
chance to clear your head of work to help get into home mode.

------
ShakataGaNai
Give CGPGrey's "Lockdown Productivity: Spaceship You" a watch --
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck)

In large majority it's about making dedicated spaces, which can be hard in a
small space. But you can at least make dedicate mindsets spaces. Ex: I do
these 5 things to prepare my desk for work at the start of the day, and I do
these 5 things to clean up my desk at the end of the work day. These can be
routines or physical things you do (Ex: get out work laptop, work notebook,
etc).

I'd strongly believe in coming up with a schedule that works for _you_ and
your needs. Then try and stick to that schedule. In my case, I (San Francisco
Bay Area) have calls with Europe starting at 7am every morning. So I get up at
6:30, take a shower (always, never skip, even if I slept late), put my shoes
on, have calls for at least 2 hours. At about 9am I take an hour to make
breakfast (and eat) for my wife and I.

Also, if you have trouble "disconnecting" yourself at the end of the day, turn
off notifications from work apps on your phone. If you're someone who say has
your work email and slack on your phone. Tell people that if it's urgent they
can text/call you.

~~~
IceDane
Why do you put shoes on when working at home? Do you wear shoes in the house
while you work?

~~~
alistairSH
Why? It's a mental trick to help separate work from home. Work = shoes; home =
slippers (or barefoot).

Obv doesn't work if you're a "no shoes in the house" person (we are, I go
barefoot or slippered at home). But, putting on "dress" clothes, or your work
badge, or other things can do the same thing.

------
geocrasher
You need a commute. It can't be a physical "get in a car and drive to work"
type of commute for obvious reasons, and so you need another way to signal to
your brain "Hey, you're now getting away from the working process."

It can be as simple as walking away from the computer for at _least_ 30
minutes. Turn off your phone, tablet, monitors, and what not. Don't sit down
and watch TV. Give your brain _time_ to make the transition.

I've been WFH since 2011- and at first it was a disaster for similar reasons.
Once I set a routine that meant walking away from the computer for a while, I
could come back and my brain had shifted gears a bit, and I could go on with
my day.

For me it's as simple as getting off work and making a meal, then sitting down
and watching TV _after_ I made the meal, and in a different room than my
computer.

------
asciimov
What you need is a signal for the brain that this is work time and this is off
time.

Some people have mentioned different location, that's great if you have the
space.

Clothes can work too, but I find shorts and t-shirt more comfortable at home
than business causal. Also, I've been enjoying doing less laundry, which is
better for the environment.

In the past I've used a different keyboard and mouse to great success. The
work keyboard gets put away at lunch and once the work day is over. If you are
using the same computer for work and home also create separate user accounts.

You could also have a desk lamp and put a sign on it that says "Work Lamp"
turn it on when you start work, turn it off when you are finished for the day.

Finally, it could be as simple as a placard a la Lucy van Pelt's the doctor is
in/out. Maybe it says "The Coder is In/Out" or "Work/Home".

~~~
tito
+1 to putting tools away at the end of the day

------
digitalsushi
Haven't seen anyone saying that they've failed, so I'll throw my hat into that
ring.

I have insomnia all the time. Work is waiting, 8 feet beneath me a floor
below, and my mind spins on emails, passive aggressive remarks, and general
strife from earlier in the day.

This isn't a cry for help. It's just an admission, that this stuff is damned
difficult for some of us, and I think it should be ok to feel like a big
failure.

I will last far longer than 2020 will. And with it, some new appreciations.
Maybe. Or at least my half hour commute, which is my best firewall for work so
far.

------
gorgoiler
Doing something time consuming and fraught with problem solving is a great way
to switch off.

Slow fermentation bread making is very popular.

Woodworking is my go to. Wood is dynamic. In the grand scheme of things, even
hardwood is a soft material. It moves by non trivial amounts with the seasons.
Timber/lumber has jargon and standards over which one can geek out, and that’s
before you get into any of the tools. Knots and shakes make you stop and
think. Grain patterns have to be taken into account when visualizing the
finished piece. There’s a lot to think about.

Then, when you’re set up, there’s just as much leg work as there is problem
solving work. I’ve spent 10 hours over the past few days just sanding up some
barn dried oak getting ready for constructing a rustic garden table. Outdoor
furniture should ideally avoid any of the finer arts of joinery, as the wood
movement wouldn’t allow it. This is great news — I’m as much a joinery fine
artist as I am a leet coder, so it suits me.

Hand and power tools, packed carefully into stacking boxes with a set of
castors on the base, allow you to move tools out of the way when not in use.
Hand working with pull saws and a miter jig is a great way to get started,
especially indoors. Power tools in 2020 have excellent dust extraction. It’s
tractable to use them indoors for hours and only have a single pan of dust to
tidy up, as any of the Festool hipsters will gladly tell you. If you have
outdoor space, you can just wheel your entire workshop in and out of the
French doors in between rain showers.

And when it’s pissing it down for days on end, that’s when you go play on
Sketchup to create next week’s grand design, taking regular breaks every hour
or so to lift and fold your sourdough.

~~~
saalweachter
It's amazing how much of woodworking is sanding.

~~~
gorgoiler
I was going for the hard sell — don’t spoil it!

It’s not all hand work though. Power sanders and finishing sanders exist. We
poo-pooed random orbital sanders in the 90s but modern ones are much better.

You can fine tune the dimensions of material almost like one would with a belt
sander, as well as use them to finish a surface.

~~~
saalweachter
Even with power tools, sanding a large piece (eg, a bookshelf or a desk) can
be a long, slow and dusty process.

(The first time I did a large project I just hit it quickly with some 120 grit
sandpaper, and it was _fine_ but as time goes on I spend more and more time
using more and more grits of sandpaper, and that delicious _smooth_ you get is
almost addictive.)

------
joshbetz
I’ve been working from home for 8 years and I’ve had to relearn how to do it
during this pandemic as well.

My normal trick is to walk to a local coffee shop in the morning. After a few
hours I’ll go to a coworking space or similar. Same thing in the afternoon.

For me, part of that is just having a routine. So instead of working at the
coffee shop, I’ve been taking a walk in the morning to get a coffee to go and
just walking back home.

I think any activity that involves getting out of your house — even just a
walk around the block — can be a good reset before or after work.

------
alistairSH
Joke answer: Get a dog!

My little dog is the worst/best boss. He yells at me when it's time to start
the work day (he sits on the bed behind me like the lazy freeloader he is). He
yells again at lunch (he needs to pee) and at 5pm (he needs to pee again). The
only problem is he doesn't understand Saturday, so like clockwork, 8am Sat
morning, yap yap yap, go to work.

Real answer: Get up and walk away.

If the apartment is small, walk down the hall or around the block. You need an
actual mental break from work. Once the walk is done DO NOT START WORK AGAIN.

I find I actually have a better balance WFH, as now I don't work past 5, I
just get up and walk away (unless there's something that's actually critical).

~~~
originalbryan2
Also joke answer: get multiple young children.

But also my personal answer: multiple young children. Around 4-5pm they are
hungry and it's time to do X & Y with them. Overall domestic responsibilities
are so demanding that if I don't rip out of work and start cooking, cleaning,
bathing, teaching, lawn work, etc as fast as possible, I'll be lucky to get to
sleep before midnight.

------
luizfzs
I have 2 machines: one from work and one is mine. I have only one desk and
it's essentially on my living room.

I kept my routine from before WFH regarding time, but I login about 30 earlier
(the time I save by not commuting). I log into the work computer at 9am, work,
log out at 5pm. I never log into it if not to work.

Everything I do that's not work is on my personal computer.

------
gwbas1c
Cook dinner, eat it away from your computer, and wash the dishes. (Or go out,
or do takeout.) When you're done, do something that interests you. TV, games,
hobbies, side-business, open-source project, ect.

If you're still ultra-focused on work, do a skunk project. (IE, the "work"
things you want to do but your boss won't let you do.)

(And, maybe this is unrelated, but if you're on meds like Straterra or
Adderal, this is something you should talk about with your 'shrink... Or maybe
just find a different doctor if they've had you "trying this and that.")

------
sashavingardt2
Absolutely using two different laptops. One for work, one for personal
activities. What also helps, if you've got a personal project on the side, to
switch gears is between work and project, either read a book or watch an
episode of something silly. Then dive back into computer world.

------
s1t5
Simply switching devices helps. If it's after 5pm and I don't have any
meetings or tasks that I can complete by 6pm, I turn off the work laptop and
put it away until the next morning.

~~~
nicoburns
> Simply switching devices helps.

Getting off devices entirely is even better.

~~~
spery
That's so true. It sucks a bit when you develop a lot of 'online' hobbies,
like gaming, reading blogs, etc. But backpains will make even the most
hardcore games into runners :)

~~~
quickthrower2
And hardcore runners into yogis!

------
inightmare
My approach is - continue the regular routine. Get dressed for work and change
clothes after work is done. Use dedicated computer for work and just turn it
off after the work is done. I do have a separate "office" room, so that does
help too.

Can't say I'm always successful, but I find that routines like dressing up for
work, setting up a dedicated computer, etc. help.

~~~
avian
I second the advice to keep the routine. I don't have a separate office at
home. What I do after work however is clean up my desk and stash away the
company laptop and any other work-related things somewhere out of sight.

------
duckpuppy
I'm not sure if I'm just weird, but I've never had any issues switching
between work and home. When work is done, I close my work laptop and open my
personal laptop, same desk, and I'm not at work. Or I go upstairs. I just...
stop. I wear the same clothes around the house as I do at work mostly (except
shorts vs. jeans, I don't like long sleeves or pants). There's so much non-
work stuff that I typically have to do after work that work will never enter
my mind again for the rest of the day after I stop. I have no problem ignoring
Slack notifications until tomorrow... just swipe them away, they'll still be
unread when I start in the morning. I don't even have work e-mail on my phone.
The only exception to this is when I'm on my on-call rotation.

I suppose that having separate hardware for work helps, but it's on my
personal desk and is connected to the second input of my personal monitor, and
always has been... it even shares the same mouse and KB I use with my personal
laptop. I was WFH most of the week pre-lockdown as it is, so it wasn't a huge
change for me.

That said, I will be getting an "office" work space soon with an adjustible
sit/stand desk that I will put work-related stuff on (including a new
keyboard/mouse/monitor), but it's going to be next to the desk I already have
for personal stuff.

The difficulty with a mental split between work and not-work escapes me.
Either I need to do work, or I'm done and can stop... and I start and stop
typically by the clock. If I work more time one day, I'll reclaim that time on
a later day with the full support of my leadership.

------
Akababa
I share a monitor and peripherals for both personal and work stuff, and find
that an effective way to "turn off work mode" is to simply switch the hub from
my work laptop to my personal computer so I'm not as tempted to go back to
work.

~~~
LandR
Same here.

I simply just turn off the laptop and if I want to work on personal stuff I
switch to my personal desktop machine. This means I have to switch over the
USB dongles and switch the monitor inputs.

So it's enough of a hassle to go back to working on the work laptop and so I
never do it.

------
skytreader
We have the same situation. The thing is I have some personal programming
projects to unwind too, not to mention I watch Netflix from my browser, not my
Smart TV. Switching devices help; I have a work-issued laptop that is strictly
for work, and a personal laptop that is exactly for non work stuff (duh,
couldn't get any plainer).

When WFH started, like most we were actually caught a bit flat-footed in some
respects. So I only had my personal laptop to use for WFH too. Before they
issued me a laptop, simple acts like logging off VPN, having a dedicated work
profile in Firefox and closing _that_, works to compartmentalize my day too.

Finally, best 150 EUR I spent is on a second-hand trekking bike. Nothing like
having a hobby that is so different from your work to enforce boundaries. I
have other hobbies too but they are physically too similar to work; aside from
hobby side projects I also draw and read, etc, stuff that are just as
sedentary as programming. The bike let me explore parks and trails I wouldn't
otherwise, and even gave me a quicker route to the gym than if I took the bus.

------
52-6F-62
I'm also in a 1BR apartment with my partner. I have a desk in the corner
(having previously done some WFH when needed) and my partner works on the
dining table.

I personally don't follow any of the "back to the routine" habits or any
special apps or anything.

I sometimes need to work a little later to finish a specific task, but
otherwise when 5 o'clock rolls around that's it.

5PM, I get up and start dinner. I break for lunch around noon or 1PM—I don't
stress about that. I am the regular reminder for my partner that she needs to
take a break.

It's something I learned a long time ago: if you just keep working nobody will
really stop you (save for a kind boss or coworker).

What may help as much as any "hacks" or whatever else is being sold is to give
yourself things to look forward to after work. I often give myself something
small—even if it's just playing a game or working on some music or something.
My time is _mine_ and I'm excited to get back to it.

Do you have a fixed work station or do you migrate around a lot?

~~~
quacker
Same. Two people in the house each with only one desk for work and personal
use.

I work 9-5. I close my work laptop at 5pm, and ignore all notifications
outside that time.

There are a few things that help, I guess:

1\. I have no real motivation to work into the evening. It's not like making
yet another CRUD app is that interesting. But, there's also no pressure from
my job to work long hours.

2\. There's tons of stuff I want to get to outside of work, whether it's
exercise, video games, TV, reading, cooking/baking, napping, personal
projects, or whatever

3\. My GF and I always eat dinner at the table together, which helps keep us
accountable.

------
kharak
1\. Define environments

I work on the left side of my desk, while spending my private time sitting on
the right side.

2\. Rituals

I start the workday by setting up my work laptop on the desk and finish the
workday by removing the laptop from the desk.

Setting boundaries is paramount. Do this physically. Once I'm no longer
working, I don't have a single thought about work. Work ceases to exist when
I'm done with the workday.

~~~
Uberphallus
Furthermore, I would add to the first point, separate computers for working
and entertainment.

~~~
kharak
Good point. That's exactly what I'm doing. Almost regard it as given, but of
course, some don't have a separat device for work.

~~~
arvinsim
Some people are not so lucky to have a good work machine for their needs.

If the company allows working from home computer, it can be tempting to use
that if it is more powerful.

~~~
mvanbaak
For a lot of people I know (all located in europe, maybe that makes the
difference) the only 'desktop/laptop' they have, is work issued. So it's the
other way around.

Just create 2 logins on it, one for work, one for private.

------
darrenf
I don't so much switch _off_ , as switch _modes_ , by forcing some kind of
"commute". Sometimes this involves going for a run, or even a walk around the
block; other times it's half an hour in a VR headset (I have an Oculus Quest,
which helped hugely during shielding and lockdown). But whatever it is, I just
make it long enough and different enough from work that when I return to
reality/the flat, I've got my not-work head on.

~~~
speedRS
Out of curiosity, what do you do in VR that helps break things up for you?

~~~
darrenf
Specifically for "commute" mode, I tend to play a few solo games of Premium
Bowling[0], or I hit "random" in Wander[1] until an interesting location to
virtually explore pops up.

[0] [https://www.premiumbowling.com/](https://www.premiumbowling.com/) [1]
[https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2078376005587859/](https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/2078376005587859/)

------
mbielski
I had to boil it down to the key indicators that mentally tell me that I am at
work: shoes on and sitting at a separate computer. Therefore, each workday I
get up at the regular time, shower, shave, etc. When I get dressed for work I
make sure to put my shoes on and then walk down the hall to my office and sit
at my work computer. At the end of the day I shut down the work computer, walk
back down the hall, and take my shoes off. Everything during my workday is
work-focused. Everything between workdays never touches that computer. I've
been WFH full time for nearly 5 years and prior to the office jobs before that
I was WFH full time for another 5 years. No, I am not due to change jobs. I
will not go back to an office, ever.

------
jugg1es
Everyone seems like they have this all figured out. I am basically working
from 9am to 10pm because I can't get enough work in during the day with a 6yo
and 4yo. I have to make up the time after normal work hours.

~~~
redisman
With kids the status quo now is to wake up, interleaved work and childcare and
housecare for 14 hours - doing all poorly, get ready for bed.

~~~
jugg1es
yea, I manage to fit in an hour with the wife and an hour gaming CoD/VR before
going to bed and getting too little sleep.

------
smoe
What helped me during the last couple months as well as in the past when I
freelanced while traveling for a year, is to have some planned activity in
between work and free time, basically creating a moat between the two. In my
experience is should at least be half an hour and something that "forces" you
to think about something else. Be that going for a walk / do groceries while
listing to a podcast, work out, cook, play and instrument, drawing, read a
newspaper, etc.

------
vladvasiliu
I'm pretty much in the same situation (I actually have a studio, so there's
only one room in my apartment).

As others have said, boundaries and having some sort of routine helps a lot.

Issues you may encounter, like me, are that most of my "non-work activities"
involve computers and are fairly similar to my work activity.

At first, during lockdown, I drifted away from my regular routine and
everything went downhill, including sleeping and exercise patterns, which
usually create a vicious circle for me.

What I usually do is this:

* Routines: I try to wake up at roughly the same time every morning, do some exercise, eat a quick breakfast. Start work at the same time every day. Have lunch around the same time every day. Stop working at the same time every day.

* Boundaries: The best way I found is using my work laptop. It comes out when I start working, goes away when I stop. No work-related stuff on my personal computer won't have me "check something real quick".

As the work laptop has a terrible coil whine and my room is very silent, I
don't use that often anymore. So the boundaries become: when it's time to
clock out, turn off work-related programs (teams, outlook, etc) and turn off
phone notifications. Physically do something else, like walk around the yard
if I happen to be at my parents' house or look out the window for five minutes
/ read a book / do some chores around the apartment. When I get back in front
of the computer, nothing work-related is directly visible, so it's easier to
not be pulled back in.

------
oxygen0211
In my opinion, establishing habits - whatever works for you is best - to mark
the start and end of you workday is the most helpful thing here. I have a
dedicated home office but I also use that for private projects, but I think
there are also room independent solutions - such as putting your laptop in a
bag or a drawer once you are done.

Also: give yourself a reason to stop working in the evening. I almost
naturally developed routines at the start and end of my workday: \- Alarm
rings every workday at same time

\- Might slack a little off on Social media, then get up

\- Get dressed appropriately for video calls

\- Make breakfast, coffee, grab a bottle of water

\- Take those things into Home office, start working

\- Work throughout the day, get up from time to time to get coffe, water, have
lunch, maybe throw some laundry into the washing machine - however, not more
chores during that time!

\- When it's time to stop working, close all programs, put Laptop to sleep or
turn it off, turn of external monitor

\- Get out of the home office

\- Immediately after stopping to work, either do some chores or hit a workout
(Reason to stop!)

\- Done. Mind is off of work. Have dinner and/or do whatever is planned for
other free time

EDIT: Formatting, wording

------
mixmastamyk
I put my computer to sleep in the early evening, and don't turn it back on. Is
there much more to this?

Some other minor tips: 1. Don't configure the phone to read email. 2. Set
screen time to kick in at 11pm to support sleep. Night shift important also.
3. A glass of wine can make work impractical.

------
thraxil
Remote and WFH for six years.

Switching off at the end of the day has always been one of the hardest parts,
especially since I am in the UK but have worked for companies based in the US.
So my day is ending just as my US coworkers are starting to come online and
want to communicate. If I don't completely block Slack, etc. I'll get pulled
into conversations and end up working late into the evening.

The best I've managed so far, without setting up separate hardware, is to
create a "work" browser profile. That runs slack and all the other work-
related stuff. Nothing work-related gets connected to my personal email or
phone number. At the end of the day, I close the work browser and then the
only way my coworkers can reach me is via emergency means.

~~~
OnWriting
I'm in a similar situation where I'm in Australia, but I work with many
colleagues in the UK. This means late night meetings and work commitments that
fall outside of the usual 9-5.

How do you stop it from going 9-9? Block out times in the middle of the day
for leisure?

~~~
rorykoehler
I'm in Germany and work for an Australian company. What I do is make sure I
have 4 hours overlap for comms. The rest of the day is mine to structure as I
want. Sometimes, if there is a deadline looming, that means working until the
evening (like today) and other times I take my kids out to the playground.
Come back and do some work for a few hours, then go biking, then maybe finish
something off... or not. However I feel within reason basically.

------
HelloFellowDevs
I have my usual backpack that I use for work, so when I get ready for work I
unpack my bag, plug my laptop in my dock and prep to go. Then when I'm done I
pack up my bag put it away and play a podcast/music before I 'start' the rest
of my day.

------
brainless
Hey! I have been a remote engineer for about 14 years and even started
startups from small apartment multiple times. I have lived in 1BR, with work.
My honest retrospection is that this is much harder than people think. I have
been through burn outs and one of the reason is surely the lack of boundaries.

 _Please set boundaries_ , like time or space. Even a curtain helps. But your
rules are only as good as your follow through. I have much better balance now,
more like I work less than 8 hours and am constantly open to take breaks. But
this happened due to the burn outs and health issues and my life in Germany. I
started realizing that if I live better, longer, I have a better chance at
whatever I plan to do.

------
staz
I works with the same laptop I live with and I also had some trouble
separating life from works. What helped me, is to, at the end of the day:

* Write a quick note of what I did, eventually what I learned and hints on what I could do next.

* Close all work related programs. IDE, emulator, etc...

* Close all browser tabs. I was previously on the hundred of open tab camp, now I close all of them. It prevents me from reading doc during my off time. When I write my note at the end of the day, I review all my open tabs, copy paste those that may still be interesting afterwards either as a ref or for future reading and then close them.

* (this is also mean I have better documentation now)

What also helped was to learn no to take the business success to heart so
much.

------
jimbobimbo
Enforce work schedule. If it's 9 to 5, then it's 9 to 5 and not a minute
longer.

If you have trouble disconnecting after the 'off' time, consider options like
taking ashwagandha supplement or even smoking a little bit of weed.

------
Lynbarry
For me, meditation works quite well.

Once you want to be done for the day, shut off your (work) PC and meditate for
10 minutes or so. This gives all the work thoughts time to go away and
afterwards the brain is ready for whatever plans you have for the evening. If
you don't know how to meditate, just use one of the various apps, they really
help get started. It's not hard.

I also sometimes did this when I wasn't working from home - when there was
something that I was still thinking about after getting home. Meditation is
generally a good way to put the work-mind away and give the leisure-mind its
space :)

------
cirgue
I go for a run when I’m done with work for the day, and anything after is my
time. Normally that’s enough to clear my head.

------
radu_floricica
I've recently solved part of it by having a fixed end hour for work, which
works fine. But apparently there is a related problem, which is that I
sometimes end up wasting the rest of the day out of pure inertia. A bit of
netflix, a bit of home gym, reading forums and so on. Not a terrible waste of
time, but it adds up, and I definitely don't want this to be all.

I don't have much to say on a solution, other than possibly treating your free
time in a more "work-like" manner, i.e. with things to do and (softer)
deadlines.

------
HumblyTossed
I've been working from home for some 6 or so years. Here are some general
tips.

* Keep them separated. Never have work on your personal devices. Have a work phone and a personal phone. Have a work computer and a personal computer.

* Have a place to work. My SO and I have a dedicated office. If you don't have one, make a space somewhere that you can work at and work there consistently.

* Keep a schedule. This is tough. I'm several TZ away, so sometimes there are meetings at 9pm my time. I generally get a pass on those. But if I have to attend, I make up the time somewhere the rest of the week. I'll use that time to bank, clean, errands, etc. Generally, though, I can stay 8-5. I love having nearly half my day all to myself to do thought work before anyone else starts working.

* Have a daily transition plan. This allows you to transition into work and transition out of work. I usually leave an open task for me to start first thing in the morning. That helps me transition into my work day. For transitioning out, I am the chef of the family, so at 5 I start prepping the kitchen.

* Set boundaries. Don't let people expect you to be accessible all the time. During specified work hours, yes. But not all the time. Also, set boundaries with family. They're not allowed to take advantage of the fact that you work from home by asking you to run all the errands, do the laundry, make the calls, etc. This isn't a problem I have ever had, but some people I know do have it and well, it makes for stress and nobody needs more of that.

------
hotgeart
I've two PCs (one work and one personnal).

At 5PM my work day is over and I go for a walk (4-5 km). This help me to clear
my mind and also help me to not spend too much time on my personnal PC after.

~~~
chrisan
While expensive for some this is a good idea. Another option would be to dual
boot.

Keep all work related code, apps, and accounts off your personal PC/boot so
you aren't tempted to look or "check in" on things.

I've been WFH for about 12 years now on a single PC, but that idea sounds good
as I am guilty of checking in on things here and there.

~~~
geocrasher
Having different PC profiles/users is usually enough. After several years of
that, I found that just having multiple desktops was enough (and a bit more
convenient). For gaming though, I switch to another user profile.

------
bloopernova
Some of the things that seem to help me:

Having a work laptop and a home PC. The home PC plays games, while the work
laptop _only_ does work. At the end of the work day, I suspend the work laptop
and switch on the home PC. Any personal web browsing is done on the home PC.

Having a dedicated space for the work environment. This one is pretty
privileged, and will not be available to a lot of people. However if I need a
break from work, I can walk out of this room and lie down or read comics or
whatever. My office has my home PC in it as well, but the change of context
from work laptop to home PC seems to be enough to kick my mind away from work-
work-work mode.

For your situation with a 1BR apartment, it might benefit you to have "work
stuff" that is out during the day but put away in the evening. So your work
items all go in a tub that gets closed and put out of sight during the
evening.

Keeping the work space clear of non-work related items, clean, and tidy. If
you're constantly looking at a half-finished Lego model, or electronics
project, etc, during work then you are getting distracted. Clear your desk of
distractions. Having multiple tubs for different hobbies or areas of your life
might also help.

Setting a specific schedule might also help. Showering and eating breakfast
before "going to work" can have a significant effect on your psyche.

------
znpy
I am currently staying at my GF's place while her parents are away on
vacation, and I'm having a way better time at switching off from work.

Things that are helping a lot are: cooking and setting up the table for dinner
together, having dinner together, doing the laundry and folding clean clothes
together, feeding and petting the cat.

So, basically: doing house chores and social activities.

Edit: i guess that also not having ready access to my three 24" 1920x1200
displays also helps.

------
jrochkind1
Even in your 1BR apartment, can you make a spot is that is your "work" spot? A
desk in a corner that you always work at, and don't use for anything but work?

Having a specific location for "work", that when I leave I am no longer "at
work", is what has worked for me. I've been working from home since before the
pandemic, and some people are like "oh that's great, you can go work at
coffeeshops" \-- but I didn't do that (pre-pandemic even). I have a specific
place in my home that is "going to work", and when I'm there I'm working and
when I'm not I'm not.

You could also begin and end the work day with certain habits/rituals. For
instance, take a walk around the block (or longer) right before you sit down
to work; when the work day is over, take another walk around the block (or
longer). Develop this as a habit, and you will internalize it as
boundaries/barriers between the work time and the not work time. (Doesn't have
to be the same thing before/after. Maybe you start work right after breakfast,
and end work with a walk around the block. But something that you actively do,
that marks the transition).

~~~
pbhjpbhj
>A desk in a corner that you always work at, and don't use for anything but
work? //

Hmm, I don't have any friends wealthy enough to have enough room in their
house for 2 desk spaces for themselves. Your comment seems like a 'they have
no bread? why don't they eat brioche' kinda of comment; ignorant of how most
people live.

My boss, who makes about 50% more than me, works on a desk in his daughters
bedroom; my boss' boss (about twice my wage) works out of her utility room. I
had to move the bed to fit one desk in; 'just work in a different area of the
room' seems quite myopic.

~~~
jrochkind1
My friends are definitely not wealthy, many of them are struggling, but I
guess my city is cheaper and people have more living space, most (not all)
people I know have enough room to put a chair and small desk/table big enough
for laptop use in the corner of a bedroom or living room. (I do not live in
NYC. It's also true that most of my friends don't have children, which may be
relevant to available space. I don't know about OP, or you).

I don't know about "two desks", nobody I know uses a home desk for anything
BUT work. If you have one desk, you could designate it for work, and not do
other things there. Don't do work on the couch or where you eat your meals (if
that's somewhere other than a couch), only do it at the desk, and don't do
other things there (pay your bills or whatever on the couch or whatever). Is
what I was suggesting.

I see now that many other comments on this thread also suggest finding a way
to have a dedicated workspace, so it's not just me.

If you do have room for a desk, but can't avoid using it for things other than
work too, perhaps it would be helpful to keep all non-work things off the desk
when you are working, and all work things off the desk when you are not, to
help separate it.

But I'm sorry my ideas were inapplicable to your situation and thus offensive
to you.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
If you're using a computer outside of work hours, in the same room as your
work desk, where would you set it up? Surely you need a desk for gaming, even
just websurfing for any length of time.

No offense, of course. Perhaps the movies are right and minimum wage workers
live alone in massive city loft apartments in USA (where I assume you are?).

Anyway none of this really helps [the OP]. My neighbour's water got cut off so
I'm off to suggest he uses any sparkling, French mineral water his water-
sommelier has in stock ;oP

Seriously though, as you say, removing or hiding work related items can be
sufficient for some people - I've heard people put a bed sheet over the work
computer to avoid its stare.

------
peruvian
I close my work laptop at 5pm and put it away. I'm very glad I never had the
workaholic-ism a lot of HN seems to suffer with.

If the weather is nice I go for a walk after.

~~~
Ascetik
Yes, this is what I do as well. 5pm hits I shutdown the machine unless I'm
just dead in the middle of something that I cannot step away from, which is
extremely rare. Then I usually just go play with my kids or talk to the mrs. I
found not checking your smartphone helps as well, just put it on the shelf
somewhere and leave it on vibrate and don't check it again for 3-4hrs.

We work to live, not live to work. Shutdown the computer and go do something
else and engage with your family (if you have one.) If you don't have your own
family then I could see how this would be more difficult for some people.

------
lemax
I've had so many challenges with this, to the extent that at some point it
began affecting my throughput at work. If I never switch "on" or "off", at
some point I run into a place where I feel like I'm always working but never
getting anything done. I've also historically had issues maintaining a
consistent schedule, and even viewed my unique position of not having to do
that as somehow special – after a few years, I can tell you that it's not.
Some colleagues I know enjoy working a few hours in the morning, skipping out
around 2:30 PM and getting the rest done late in the evening. Eventually and
very recently I came to the conclusion that this just doesn't work for me. My
manager recently recommended I just work from 9-5 and sign off and shut my
computer at the end of the day. It might seem obvious or painfully
conventional, but it just works. No more colleagues complaining that I'm off
the map half the time or hesitating to reach out because I might awkwardly be
unavailable. I'm working less hours, shipping more, and enjoying my life when
the work day ends.

------
apocalyptic0n3
I live in a 2BR apartment where the second bedroom is my office. For me, I
have two walls lined in desk with two completely separate stations set up.
They use different equipment, different OS, different chair, etc. I also have
Hue lights that I change from a brighter, whiter light while working to a more
subdued, dark blue/purple after work.

The only way I can do it is to completely leave my workstation and never even
look at it while doing my leisure activities. I've tried using the same setup
for both before and it just messes with my mind to the point where it's never
not work.

If you don't have the space for a secondary setup and are using a laptop, try
moving to the dining room table for the last hour of your work day. Then shut
down and do a chore before doing anything at your desk for the night.

Oh, one thing that I do recommend: shut down your work computer every single
night. It takes 20 seconds to start back up in the morning. Do not leave it
on. Do not sleep it. Do not let it tempt you. The second your work day is
over, shut it down, unplug it, and leave it in the corner until the following
work day.

~~~
ta17711771
Switch the blue to red, probably. Neat.

------
godshatter
I've had fewer problems with this than I expected. I think it's because I took
pains to make a mental work/life divide a few years ago. The switch for me,
whether working in the office or from home, is my work computer. In the
office, the ritual start of the day for me was turning on my monitors and
logging in for the first time. At home, it's connecting to the vpn, starting
my remote desktop client, and connecting. End of the day is locking the screen
and turning off the monitors in the office, or closing down the remote desktop
client and vpn at home.

Just clicking the close button on the remote window and then disconnecting the
VPN is enough for me to feel that it's the actual end of the day. Also, I've
made it clear over the years that I don't monitor my work email or Teams chats
when off the clock. That helps. Coworkers know that if there is an emergency I
will respond to a text or a phone call but an email or a Teams message will go
unseen until I login again.

------
kingnothing
I've worked from home full time for about 7 years.

What works for me is a combo of things, and this has worked across profitable
public companies, unicorns, and startups in roles ranging from senior engineer
to engineering manager.

1\. I set working hours for myself and stick to them. I do not check email,
Slack, or pick up my work laptop outside of those hours.

2\. I turn off all email notifications on my phone and I only have Slack
notifications on during my work hours plus 1 hour afterwards.

3\. I communicate the above with my coworkers so they do not expect that I'll
reply to them at 9pm or 7am. My team has my phone number; it's also in Slack
and our corporate directory. I tell my coworkers they can call me on the phone
day or night for emergencies outside of office hours and that they may have to
call twice to get through do not disturb.

I also have a dedicated home office now which certainly helps, but I didn't
for the first many years of working from home full time -- my office used to
be a corner of my bedroom.

------
kalyantm
I found that inculcating simple habits like the following, helped me: * I have
a workstation setup with a monitor, keyboard and other desk utils. All "work"
happens only on my desk. The minute i walk away, i dont do any work related
actions. (I've never used my work laptop as a "laptop", it's always docked on
my desk) * Never check slack/work IM on mobile. Unless it's a fire in
production, and u are constantly pinged resist that urge to open the office IM
tool away from your workstation -> especially when you are eating (i had this
issue before) * Have a hard stop to your "working day". Although u are at
home, 9-5 is "working hours" -> i go to the gym/for a run at 4 pm everyday =>
slowly signalling to my brain that "work" is over for the day.

------
hosh
Years ago, back when I was living alone, a bachelor, and had no dependents, my
main way is to shut the lid to my laptop. That told me it was not work time.
(Conversely, I left it on during working hours). I also set Slack not to
notify me during off work hours, but told people to text or phone me.

At some point, I started to tag some Slack messages with [async]. It meant
that I did not require an immediate response. I tried to be conscious of
people's local time. People started reciprocating the [async] tag with me.

These days, I have a family, and family time can also intrude into work life.
So they tend to bleed together.

I also have a garden. Because I need to take advantage of the natural cycles,
I work in the garden in the morning (at around 6) and in the evening (at
around 5). There are chickens, dogs, cats, and rabbits, and they all have
habits that go with the time of the day. That helps ground me into the daily
cycles of the other members of the household.

The garden time helps shift me out of work time. If I still need to work in
the evening, after dinner, it is something consciously chosen and I would
inform my wife ahead of time.

You might not have gardens or pets, but you might have a non-work activity
that you like doing after the working hours. I suggest some kind of physical
activity, even if it is just a walk. It can also help if you change your
clothes, from your "working" clothes to maybe something like your "workout"
clothes. Those can signal to your subconscious mind that you're shifting into
something else.

If you don't have a laptop, at least shut off the monitor or do something with
the setup to visually indicate that the work day is done.

Finally, the human brain does something funny when it crosses a threshold into
another room. It changes context. You can use that to help shift your context
-- go do something physical outside, even if it is to go to the balcony.

------
rco8786
I've found that building in a fake "commute" is super helpful. At the end of
my work day I go for a ~30 minute walk. First few minutes mentally debriefing
my workday, and then the last few just enjoying the walk. Acts basically like
a mental/physical barrier between. my workday and my personal day.

------
rcarmo
What: Reading, music (I dabble with synths), TV Series.

How: What I usually do is work until a fixed time, and then have a hard stop.
Do some laundry, check out a YouTube video on the couch, etc. If there is
anything really urgent, I can pick up again, but the physicality of getting
away from the computer and doing something else helps A LOT.

~~~
arvinsim
> music (I dabble with synths),

When you say dabble, do you mean doing sound design or doing song
compositions?

~~~
rcarmo
Both. Right now I'm going through learning sound design on new hardware, but I
also use Logic to try my hand at some compositions (mostly instrumental intros
right now).

------
CarbyAu
Two routines, consistently.

The routine doesn't have to be hard, but it should require you to pay
attention.

When you commute, it is simply a routine. When you are at the other end, you
are in the other mode.

Normally, the routine to "get to work" is different from the routine to "get
home". Maybe only the landmarks are reversed but they are different all the
same.

You could:

\- take a walk around the block. One way to get to "work". The other way to
get "home".

\- do bodyweight strength exercises to "get to work". Do stretches to "get
home".

\- recite a motivational speech to get to work. Recite a prayer, to get home.

\- make a coffee to get to work. Drink a soda to get home.

It doesn't matter what the routine is, the point is: consistent routine = this
is coming next.

The routine gives your mind a trigger to know what is coming next and "prepare
you for it"/"get you in the mood".

------
auslegung
I add an activity after work that I look forward to, for example playing a
video game. Plus as soon as I’m supposed to be done with work for the day I
quit Slack, which is our main communication tool. So that’s enough for me 1)
schedule a fun task for after work and 2) immediately quit our main
communication app.

------
ragebol
\- Get dressed to go to work; get my keys, wallet, phone etc

\- Have breakfast

\- Have separate place for work (although mine is kinda-integrated in the
living room nowadays with a nice view on the garden. I used to go up the
stairs in our previous home.

\- end of work: dinner time, somewhere between 17:00 and 18:00 roughly. No
work after dinner, except very occasionally.

------
grimjack00
Here's what has worked for me:

\- Close the laptop, disconnect it from power supply, external monitor, etc.,
and put it out of the way. I'm sharing my big monitor with my work laptop and
my personal desktop. After I shut down the laptop, I start up my desktop even
if I don't plan to use it immediately, so I'm looking at my personal
background, not my work one. \- Get out of the apartment and take a walk; to
the mailbox, around the block, whatever. When I was working downtown, I almost
always went out for lunch, and walked to a coffeeshop a couple blocks away to
read. Now, I take this walk after work; anywhere from 15-30 minutes. \- Change
clothes, as others have suggested. I'm much more casual now than I would be in
the office, but I change into "workout" clothes before my walk.

------
james_s_tayler
During first lockdown I couldn't not switch off after work. I spent 300 hours
gaming. I never play games. They don't hold my attention for more than 3 days.

During this second lockdown I can't switch out of work mode and into doing
other things.

My brain just does what it wants and I'm only a passenger along for the ride.

------
DrBazza
I walk the dogs first thing in the morning, then "after work". As others have
said it's a bit like a 'commute'. If I didn't have dogs I'd probably go a bit
crazy, and I'd be back in the office offering treats to my co-workers.

------
xyproto
I log in as two different users on the same computer (but not at the same
time): one for work and one for free time.

The work account only has work-related things: "TODO" text files, a calendar,
e-mail, slack, documents, source code etc. When I log in, it's easy to get an
overview and continue where I left off.

I also use
[https://github.com/cgag/hostblock](https://github.com/cgag/hostblock) to
block all news/video sites while I'm logged in with my work account. It's
pretty great.

This setup is the best yet, for me. It makes it easy to focus while also
making the switch from work to free time almost as instant as physically
leaving a workplace.

------
cik
Treat work like work, and home like home. Don't allow them to bleed as a hard
rule. Covey was right - get dressed for work, every single day. Have a work
area, a work pattern and never do anything personal in that space. When I
lived in a small space, I used a laptop desk for work, purely to separate the
two. The mental approach is enormous.

Enforce some form of hard separation. When work ends, don't get up and make
dinner (unless that's an hour long activity). Shut things down, go for a walk,
call X, play guitar, play a video game... basically do something to ensure
you're completely changing from one mode to the other.

------
sbmthakur
My office is in my drawing room. Once my office hours are done, I take a break
for an hour and then start with a scheduled personal task. I use the break to
sort of 'turn-off the office mode'. In the break I complete trivial tasks like
checking WhatsApp and plan out my personal work that I am about to do. I
believe that my personal work is as important as professional work, so that
serves as a motivation.

A new thing that I have started experimenting with is to kind of stop work in
the last 15 mins and use it to review my office work and plan the tasks for
the next working day.

I have also found that I am more likely to stick to a routine if it involves
regular exercise and waking up at a set time.

------
rapjr9
Most of the methods I see here involve a ritual used to change your mindset. A
ritual can be anything, as long as it has to be done in a particular way. For
example, taking a shower then changing the room lighting can be enough of a
ritual to get you into "play" mode. The ritual needs to take some amount of
time to do, a 10 second ritual probably won't work. The longer the ritual is
the more reliably it may work. Meditation can work also. It's kind of like an
open ended ritual that can continue until you get to where you want to be.

------
kreck
I leave the house for a walk or a bike ride for at least 15-20 minutes which
is basically a "fake commute". When i come back it is like coming back home
from work and i can easily switch off.

Whenever i don't, I have troubles to switch off from work.

------
darksuiyoken
What worked for me:

\- Making a pourover coffee in the morning. This slow process forces me to
keep my mind clear and free, and "adjust" to the work day ahead.

\- Take advantage of working from home! There's a heatwave right now and it is
impossible to work during some hours for me. I take that time off to
workout/do the dishes/chores. I then put in a couple of hours of work to make
it up later at night where it is cool. Bonus: no meetings or coworkers to
distract me at that time. which brings me to the last point:

\- Plan your day well. Try to have a no-meetings day, or no meeting blocks for
you to prepare and clean up lunch etc, heads down time etc. Put everything on
your calendar.

YMMV.

------
apabepa
If stress levels are normal usually a short walk will do. If something is
really stuck in my head i complement with stashing away the work computer and
having a drink on my balcony. I am not recommending it, but you asked how I
switch off :)

------
neutronicus
Wife and kid make damn sure I'm switched off right at quittin' time

Edited to add: I work in my underwear and shower a couple times a week. Since
there seems to be a bit of a grain to these comments I figured I should
mention I go against it

~~~
luxurytent
Came here to say this. At around 4-5pm I am .. making dinner , eating dinner,
doing bath time, bed time, cleaning up

A good 3-4 hours of time away from the work station :)

------
jedberg
Turn on a movie or TV show.

I actually stop work every day at 7pm because that is when Jeopardy comes on.

------
codeadict
I have been working remotely for several years. One trick I do is just
disconnect my router from the power source at 5:30. After that I go and bike
for 30-45 minutes or go swimming. Some days, kids have not been very quiet and
I cannot go outdoors and leave the wife alone after a long day with them.
Those days I just play some music and do some silly dances with the kids or
cook something new from a recipe website. Anything you love more than coding
or requires physical exercise will do the trick, for me cooking produces an
effect that feels like coding but without the stress of doing it for work.

------
rwha
I've been working from home for a couple years, and I had this same issue at
first. For me, it helped to make a sort-of ritual of ending the work day.

I run a 'timer' script when I start working and run again after 8-9 hours (a
simple bash script: `timer start|stop work`). Then I disconnect the VPN, close
all open apps, turn off the display, and go do a chore (dishes, laundry, go
for a walk). I also use a separate browser profile for work.

It was still difficult at first, but with the routine it got easier. Looking
at the history of running the timer script, I saw my working hours gradually
get to normal over about 8-10 weeks.

------
njacobs5074
In my case, in order to overlap my company's work hours, I work from about
1500-2300. So when I'm done with work, I basically wash up, brush my teeth and
go to bed.

I have found that listening to some atmospheric music is usually sufficient to
help me fall asleep.

Since I get up around 0700 to take care of "normal" stuff, cooking, cleaning,
getting groceries, etc. I'm usually pretty tired by that point.

I think the important thing for me is having the routine, i.e. I'm very clear
when I'm in work mode vs. non-work mode.

But yeah, sometimes it is hard to switch off, particularly if I'm working on a
complex project or task.

------
j45
Some of these might help..

Compartmentalize your time:

First, dedicate space for work only, with a door you can close. If not,
separate the space with folding dividers, or something.

Make your desk face away from the rest of your living area. If it feels
different than the rest of your place it helps a lot.

Get an oversized whiteboard you would not expect to have in a home. It feels
out of place and helps. 6 to 8 feet wide. A piece of glass board mounted on
the wall can fit in nice at home too.

Get separate devices for personal use instead of work. If need be set up a
smaller 2nd desk for personal use.

Shower and dress every day for work. It's still work. Just like sleep is a
shower for your brain to feel fresh and focused so is telling your body you're
ready to work.

Have a comfortable chair that feels like work, not home. Have a pair of
comfortable monitors, 24 to 27" setup. When I leave this setup I only have my
laptop and it doesn't feel like serious work anymore.

Try to do some meetings by phone only, pop on a good headset and go for a
walk. You might be surprised.

If you're used to a commute, help your brain with a familiar experience. In
the morning, "go to work" by walking out your door, around the block and back
inside to work. At the end of the day "go home" with a similar Wallin, ideally
in the opposite direction.

Wear running shoes indoors that you put on during work hours only and take
them off when working.

Take coffee breaks, physically away from your desk. Consider getting a
caffeine maker you only use for work.

When possible, structure your end of day meetings to be lighter / creative to
help transition.

On Friday afternoons build a routine to unplug by 5 or 6 every day, and then
do it consistently to let you have your weekend.

Last, but not least, it might seem small, but give yourself permission to
disconnect so you can recharge and your brain can come back full force on
Monday. This is literally something you cna tell your brain. The time away
from the keyboard is as important as the time at the keyboard.

------
11235813213455
I grab my bike and go out looking for fruits

------
danilocesar
As someone working remote for the last 10 years: Home office is all about
routine (to start and to finish). Can be anything: you can cook, play an
instrument, play a game, take a walk, exercise, read a book or even call
someone. Doesn't matter as long as you have something to do.

The important thing is to find something to do and do not do nothing,
otherwise your brain will trick yourself to stay working longer: it's always
just one more email, just one more commit...

That said: each person is different and what works for me might not be a
perfect fit for you.

------
dsr_
When I worked in an office, I had an alarm set on my phone to remind me to
stop so that I could catch my preferred train home. There were others, later,
but unless there was an emergency or someone absolutely needed to talk to me
at the end of the day, that was when I left.

These days, that same alarm goes off, now at 5 PM, and I apply the same rule:
this is when I leave, under normal circumstances.

I strongly advise doing something similar. Also: this is the time to take a
walk around the neighborhood, take a shower, start prep work for dinner,
meditate, whatever. Do the non-work things.

------
icedchai
I've found switching on is more difficult than switching off these days.

------
winrid
What do you have to look forward to after work?

I have no problem getting up a few hours before work, going for a walk, and
then working on one of my projects, and then working on them again after work.
I'm not suggesting this.

However, what I'm suggesting is you have things to look forward to aside from
work.

Also, a lot of people use constant work as a way to procrastinate from taking
care of important things in your life, like relationships or self improvement.
It can feel like meeting that next PR before 8pm is moving you forward, but it
probably isn't.

------
ntlk
I always keep my work and leisure devices separate. In The Before this
discipline meant no work email or comms once I was out of the office for the
day. These days I shut down the work laptop at 6 o’clock on the dot and I’m
immediately in leisure mode.

In my spare time I will discuss my career with friends, or get advice on some
trickier aspects of my job, but aside from that it’s not worth giving away my
precious leisure time outside of working hours. It helps that I have a
multitude of hobbies I enjoy doing just as much or more than work.

------
whateveracct
Change clothes, take a shower, work out, take a nap, go for a walk. Basically
any quick change of environment works for me when I feel too "on."

Another thing that helps me: I use a planner. I use it to plan my days and my
weeks. The key helpful part is at the beginning of the week, I list what I
want to get done at work. Then every day, I plan some work for it. Knowing
that I'm on track to hit my weekly goal makes it less stressful to stop
working. If I'mg gonna hit my goal anyways, why work more? I can do other
stuff.

------
catchmeifyoucan
I've been working on a tool called Amna (getamna.com), and it's been effective
at helping me out with this. It has a concept of headspaces. So it makes it
easy to separate the context from Work and Home.

It acts as a daily task manager and has a calendar, so once I write down all
the tasks I want to get done in a day for a headspace, it's nice to know that
I can switch-off. It helps because it gives me a daily goal to work towards.

[https://ibb.co/PDHdszR](https://ibb.co/PDHdszR)

------
twodave
If you have the freedom, since work is leaking into your fun time, try to
allow fun to leak into your work time more. It's not as important to keep your
life separated into little boxes as it is making sure your health isn't
neglected.

I work from home, and while my home houses my whole family of 6, I have the
same issues of separating work from home, especially at night. I just tend to
show up late the next morning if I spend a few hours the night prior getting
ahead, for example.

~~~
winrid
I suggest keeping fun out of work, if you can. It could cause you to suck at
work. It could be he has to work so much because he does more than work, at
work.

------
Wistar
I have a work computer workstation setup in a spare room and treat it like
going to work. Originally, I set it up on the kitchen table and I never
stopped working. My wife said, "enough!"

The office signals that it's time to stop for the day, co-workers going home
for the day, etc., are still hard to replace so, I now use cues such as the
mailman delivering, the sound of the evening news that my wife always watches,
and neighbors who do work at an office returning home, as signs to stop.

------
deeblering4
Having a dedicated room for the home office helps a lot, but is not always
possible.

I’ve found that using multiple user profiles on my computer helps. During work
I log in as my work user, and when work is over I close everything and log
out, switching to my personal user. JFTR I work somewhere with a BYOM policy.
You could do similar with a kvm or multiple laptops, etc.

Also, I configure but disable work email on my phone. That way I’m not
checking mail 24x7, but if I get an urgent call I can quickly enable it.

------
ssully
I think everyone has to have their own routine on this. Luckily for me, I have
always been strict when it comes to schedules. For me, I just established what
my WFH schedule is. When the end of the day comes, I turn off my laptop, put
it away, and don't take it back out until the next day (or for a very rare
emergency). After my computer is away, I usually go straight into a "normal
day" task like walking the dogs, or preparing to cook dinner.

------
heelix
The 30" monitor switches from my work Mac to my personal Linux box. I can hear
the work laptop ping with jabber/email/etc, but once I swap the monitor over,
the work day is done. Company is persnickety about using external computers
and this way code, searches, and network activity stays on their gadgets and
mine stays on mine. Helps keep me from being distracted by personal stuff when
getting work done.

I found if I could see it, I'd always get sucked in.

------
Slippery_John
I physically unplug my monitors and keyboard from my work laptop and plug them
into my personal computer, which is not in any way set up for work. It's a
pain to do, and my primary monitor has issues with hotswapping to I have to
fiddle with it almost every time I switch. Gives a clear disconnect and
imposes a burden on getting back to work.

Like others mention, I also get ready in the morning as I normally would, and
bookend work hours by walking my dog.

------
vijucat
Talking to folks. And
[https://reddit.com/r/ContagiousLaughter](https://reddit.com/r/ContagiousLaughter).

------
abfan1127
I have activities at the end of the day which require me to quit. I play
pickleball with friends, coach my kids in baseball, dinner with my family.

I'd find things to do. Even in 2020, you can still get together with friends,
even at a distance. Ride bikes, hike, walk to get take-out.

Set a calendar notice to "GET OUT" of your office to help remind you. Or you
can borrow my 3 year old who will ask you to play "strong guy" with him until
you give in.

~~~
mgr86
> coach my kids in baseball

\--

Having a child has provided me the easiest and best reason to switch off. I
know its not the right choice for everyone, but it sure has worked for us.

------
Merrill
I would stop communicating. No more read/reply for emails or messages. No
phone calls. No writing or reading of memos or other documents. No creating
presentations, diagrams, or drawings.

On the other hand, it is really hard to stop thinking about work, and maybe
not necessary or advantageous. Most of the really good ideas that I've had
came to me while I was not working. Your subconscious can be working even
while you are doing other things.

~~~
saalweachter
I fall in and out of the habit, but if you're in a high-volume-of-email job
and don't always keep up with your email throughout the day, I find making
sure I've read all of the day's emails a good way to end the day.

Besides missing fewer emails (in an office, people will usually be like "hey,
did you see my email?"), it also gives me a chance to stop thinking about
programming-related tasks and provides a little sense of accomplishment at the
end of the day which is sometimes lacking when said programming-related tasks
aren't going well.

------
aphextron
Close the laptop at exactly 5PM every day no matter what you're doing, and
don't open it again until 9AM the next day. Zero exceptions. It can wait.

------
cyri
Either CrossFit in the evening (at home or in the German gym) or cycling
outdoors (or at Zwift.com) or cooking with the family. Then coding again on
private projects.

------
ww520
Physically go out to do non-work related tasks. Go to stores, go buy a drink,
jogging, biking, go around the neighborhood, listen to non-work podcasts,
video call friends, etc.

Actually here’s a thought. Someone can set up a service like meetup.com but
for virtual social meetings. It sets up schedules for gatherings that people
can join. It’s a good way to pull people away from work in after hours. It can
even be called videoup.com

------
SAI_Peregrinus
I don't have a fully separate office, but I do have a separate work computer.
I don't do work on my personal computer. I don't work on personal projects on
my work computer.

I set alarms for when it's time to start and stop work (and take lunch, etc).
Schedule helps.

I dress and shave and do everything I would if I were to go out to the office
every morning.

I start to cook dinner shortly after work time ends. This helps enforce the
schedule.

------
Pandabob
Taking a walk after finishing my work day. And afterwards spending time with
my girlfriend and dog. I'd assume having kids will make this also easier.

------
BrandoElFollito
When it is time to finish I simply disconnect from all my work programs
(email, IM,...).

I honestly always wondered why pepole find it so difficult to do that and need
to rely on trucks like a walk, change of clothes etc.

------
goatherders
I "end" the workfay by either reading a book for half an hour or listening to
a book on tape while I walk my dogs. After working my brain is still going a
mile a minute and letting it feast on some fiction makes the transition out of
work mode a bit more pleasant for me. Back in Before-Times my wife and I would
go do Yoga after work which was a great way to /workday.

------
NDizzle
I use a different laptop for each job that I have. (Only two, don't worry.) I
keep a minimum amount of things on my phone so that I can't do "real work" on
my mobile device, but I can get alerts and people can reach me to see if I'm
available to help with problems.

Anyways, when you're done for the day close the laptop. I know that's
difficult, but you can do it.

------
juliend2
I recommend having a chilling spot. It doesn't have to be a couch. Mine is a
dedicated floor mat, in a corner of the room. That's where I read, watch
youtube on my blackberry, and just unplug/think.

Also, if you want to use your computer after work, you can use a different
"workspace" desktop on Windows, or equivalent on other platforms, where you
surf the web and play games.

------
reportgunner
I have a specific laptop (personal one, apart from the company issued one) for
working only, so when I'm done I simply turn off the machine(linux) and turn
on the machine(windows) where it's hard to do some work.

I'm not saying that windows makes it hard to work on, just my windows machine
is set up in that way (no IDEs, no programming languages installed - just
games and browsers)

------
slykar
Environment pays a big role. I have a separate room just for work. Some of my
friends work in the kitchen. Maybe you can try with changing your background
view or move some objects around when there's a work time. Move a big plant
into your vieport when you are working and move it to a different place when
you are supposed to end your work day.

------
karolsputo
I honestly don't. Working from home increased my output very much and I've
embraced this change to just do more. I work longer hours and do more side
projects/freelancing.

I worry about long term effects (especially health) and efficiency of this
approach, but for now only side effect is less time for other activities. I'm
happy with this tradeoff for now.

------
BlackCherry
Stop thinking about work as something you do from 9-5. Start planning your day
around a more organic schedule. I work in 1-2 hours spats throughout the day,
interspersed with working out, cooking, reading, watching youtube, etc. You
need to integrate your work and life, rather than thinking of them as separate
to get the most out of working from home.

------
MarcScott
My workspace is also my entertainment space, where I watch Netflix and play
games.

My trick is to cook. At 17:30 each day, I shutdown Slack, email, emacs etc and
go to the kitchen and cook a meal. Then I eat and drink a few beers, either
with my family, or at my desk while watching a movie. After that, I don't give
work another thought until the morning.

------
RIMR
I have found that using a separate Macbook for my work stuff and then shutting
it down and putting it in a bag when I'm done with work helps a lot.

I live in tiny apartment and my spouse in WFH too. I have no dedicated work
space. But it helps that Outlook isn't generating alerts when I'm browsing
Reddit in the evenings on my personal laptop.

------
codingdave
I follow a routine every day when done working. First, turn off my work
laptop. Then read a chapter of whatever book I'm currently reading, do some
personal writing, and exercise. It doesn't need to be a huge amount of each of
those - it is just a routine of non-work activities that transitions me from
work time to my own time.

------
h4kor
I started WFH with Covid.

To separate work from hobby I turned the Dining Table into my "Work Desk" and
kept my Desk as "Hobby Desk". I start every day by setting up the work desk
and end work by returning my chair to the hobby desk. This keeps the two
separated.

Also: Preparing dinner and taking at least half an hour to do something
without screens after work.

------
SamWhited
I generally go for a quick ride on a local mountain bike trail (or just ride
around the city looking for interesting features if it's rained and the trails
are closed), or play piano for a while. Just anything that doesn't involve a
screen (even if it's personal work or video games or something that's not
actual work).

------
rzmnzm
Smoke a fat joint

~~~
darwinwhy
I prefer edibles myself.

------
wilhow
I have a workspace separated by a floor mat and a bookshelf that's my
"office". I would walk into that space fully dresses in pants and shirts like
I work in the office.

After work I step out, change, and "go home". Luckily I have a rented garage
space, so some evenings I would work on my bike in the garage.

------
soufron
1\. no electronics in your sleeping room 2\. refuse to work before having your
breakfast and having read the press 3\. big lunch from 12am to 3pm 4\. a pause
at 5pm, potentially a siesta and some time out 5\. don't hesitate to work late
but have a bath 6\. sleep at 11pm max in your electronics-free room

------
kho
Routines are important. I'd recommend that you start working everyday at a
specific time and then when it's time to get out of work, have something else
to do, in my case that's running. Set up an alarm, go change, do whatever it
is, come back, shower and now you're out of work!

------
talal7860
Some excellent WFH tips posted by a colleague:
[https://www.kudos.com/resource/blog/stressed-about-
working-r...](https://www.kudos.com/resource/blog/stressed-about-working-
remotely-these-tips-are-for-you/)

------
BryantD
Divide your digital space as much as possible. I have work Slack on my mobile
device, but not on my personal laptop, for example. I also use different email
clients for work email and personal email, so that when I check personal email
I'm not tempted to handle a work thing.

------
pknerd
I wrote this during lockdown. It is not directly related as such but still
have some points.

[http://blog.adnansiddiqi.me/13-tips-for-making-the-most-
of-t...](http://blog.adnansiddiqi.me/13-tips-for-making-the-most-of-the-
covid-19-lockdown/)

------
avoaja
Get a personal laptop if you use your work machine for your regular internet
surfing. I find that turning off my work pc and keeping it out of sight... in
a drawer, helps me switch off after a while.

And every morning, I perform my morning rituals as if I’m commuting to work,
before I pull out my laptop.

------
aprdm
I bought a desktop for gaming and have my macbook laptop as well.

What I am doing is only work from the desktop (since I ended up not gaming
haha), when work is done I turn it off.

I don't have any work things in macbook. Not even work email logged in. Work
is literally turned it off when my desktop powers off.

------
senko
Been WFH for a couple of years, then rented a small office for the purpose of
explicitly distancing work and non-work. With COVID-19, back to WFH but now
I'm much more prepared.

Success for me meant mentally separating as much as possible work and non-work
(not always possible as I can get customer calls or need to deal with urgent
problems at literally any hour - such is life of an entrepreneur!)

Physically - separate your work place from the rest. In order or impact:

\- rent a separate office (expensive, doesn't make sense now with COVID-19)

\- find a few coffe shops, libraries or similar places you can switch between
for "work" area (assuming you can work on a laptop) - also not realistic now
due to the coronavirus

\- have a separate room in a house - not applicable to you as you're in a 1BR
apt

\- have a separate work-dedicated corner/table/chair in _any_ room in your
apartment - I worked for about half a year from kitchen, as it was still at
least no in the living room!

Temporally - make clean cuts "going to" and "returning from" work. This can
be:

\- switching betewen clothes to get in different modes

\- taking your dog for a walk, buying groceries, or just taking out trash
right after your work

\- if there's something on TV that has regular hours and you like watching it
(as someone already commented here) - use it to mentally switch off from work
mode

\- if nothing else, set an alarm, when it gets off, close your laptop, stand
up and do a random house chore for 10 minutes, just to think of something
totally unrelated :)

Devices:

\- it helps if you can have separate devices for work and the rest of your
digital life; I treat my laptop as 90% work-related so I avoid using it
outside of work if at all possible (phone / tablets filling up the gaps)

\- similarly how you want to remove procrastination while working, you want to
remove any work-related notifications when not! see if you can stop
mail/slack/etc notifications outside your work hours (in my case, i turn off
_all_ notifictaions* except pager duty alarms)

In my WHF experience, both before and now during COVID, the biggest problem
was working all day, then being less productive during work hours because I
know I'll still work all day, then having to work day because I'm less
productive during work hours .... this spiral was why I rented an office back
in the day.

Every situation and person is different, these are just some tactics that
worked for me.

------
ashtonkem
Clothing is a good way to trick your brain into “work mode” and “fun mode”,
second only to having separate spaces (which you unfortunately don’t have). I
change into tank tops or something similarly not work appropriate once EOD
comes as part of my “I am no longer at work” process.

------
Unknoob
Been working from home since march and never had a problem to switch off from
work. Some days I would be working on something I consider fun and stay a bit
later than usual, but most days I just move my chair 1 meter to the left to my
gaming computer and go play something.

------
dleslie
1\. Do not use your phone for work.

2\. Do not carry your phone with you.

3\. Have a separate work space; even if it's one you must assemble and
disassemble daily.

4\. Have a timer that shuts off the power to that workspace outside of healthy
work hours.

5\. Do not leave visible work "nags" , like whiteboard notes, out and about.

------
theodric
I do work in my office on my 34" monitor. I put that system to sleep a d go
down for dinner. I do pleasure downstairs on a 13" MacBook. Sometimes, if I
need the space, I'll make an exception and do pleasure on the monitor. It
works for me.

------
faical
\- No work apps/tools on personal devices (Slack, Google, Jira, etc.)

\- __No matter what __, close your work laptop at 5pm (or whatever time your
hard stop is). Any pending work /emergency eating you will still be there the
next day.

\- Take a walk.

------
deeteecee
Is there a lot of work-related material surrounding you? I really just have my
macbook and that's it. If that's not the issue, maybe just repeatedly remind
yourself at a specific that time that work is over and to relax.

------
btbuildem
The trick of leaving the house for a "fake commute" that others have
mentioned, works for me as well. Physical movement and free headspace seem to
go a long way towards "resetting" into a work mode or home mode.

------
commonturtle
I try to do some activity to signal the end of the work day. Recently I've
been attacking a 1000-piece jigsaw puzzle while listening to a podcast.
Amazing how quickly I can forget about work this way.

------
de_watcher
I have exact times for workday start/end and lunchtime start/end. I just
abruptly stop what I'm doing when the hour comes.

Also there are things I want to do after work I'm looking forward to. So I
waste no time thinking in-between.

------
boudin
If possible, I find that the best way is to have commitment with someone to do
something at the end of the day. Having this at least once a week is good as
it's mentally harder to scrap than something involving just yourself.

------
dewey
I don't have a dedicated room and also not a dedicated desk so what works for
me is just changing into dedicated work clothes. If I'm sitting around in
sweat pants all day the difference would be too blurry for me.

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erik_landerholm
Planned breaks. Plan to watch a movie or do something at a specific time for a
specific duration.

Exercise of any kind will do it, but you need to Do It for at least 30 mins,
imo. It takes a while for your brain to context switch completely.

------
hallidude
My friend taught me this neat hack:

Put a bedsheet/bedspread on your monitor/workarea once you're done for the
day.

I've found this reasonably useful

------
mschuster91
Prepare and eat some delicious dinner, as a routine, when you have finished
working.

------
dmje
Home worker for a decade here. Biggest and best piece of advice: take work
email off your phone. Better: put your smart phone upstairs on silent after
end of working day and leave it there. Best: don't have a smartphone.

~~~
chrisan
> Biggest and best piece of advice: take work email off your phone.

Sometimes it is handy to have email. Unless you are in a huge corporation with
24/7 coverage by other employees there will come a time when something urgent
needs your attention.

I just disable push on my work account. I actually disable push and
notifications on everything. The only way things get pushed to me are txt and
calls, everything else requires an act by me wanting to look at something.

I hate notifications and disturbances so if you _really_ need me you gotta go
the old fashioned route and call/txt. And if you do need me I likely need to
see something in email or slack or whatever to help provide context/details.
Often times that is enough to let me continue about my business vs having to
go back home and get on the computer (which hasnt happened in years
thankfully)

~~~
dmje
My clients know my mobile number, so I know that if something urgent comes up
they'll call me. No need for email...!

------
ggnall
I take a hot bath at the end of my day. Sometimes I will play music, but
otherwise no distractions, phone, or reading. Nothing else seems to do the
trick.

------
kelnos
I generally don't have this problem (I've been working mostly from home for 3
or 4 years now), but here are some things that can be helpful. You'll probably
note a theme of "boundaries". This isn't all that different conceptually from
setting healthy boundaries in order to maintain a work/life balance in normal
office-going times, but some of the specifics can change when you're working
and living in the same space.

* Have a separate computer for work and personal stuff. Don't have your work email/Slack/whatever signed in and loaded on your personal computer.

* Delete work apps/accounts (Slack, work email) from your phone. Especially now since you're home nearly all the time, you don't need them on your phone anyway. If you're signed into any web apps on your phone, sign out of them.

* Set yourself time limits. You work between X:00 and Y:00 every day. When Y:00 comes, you shut down the work computer and do something else. If this is too inflexible, set yourself a 30-60 minute range, and when you hit the beginning of that range -- set an alarm if you need it -- be mindful of what you're working on and make sure you can wind it down by the end of the time period. You can also try to schedule phone/video calls or other socially-distant activities for right around your stop time to force you to stop and get into another mindset.

* When work is done, put everything work-related away. If you tend to keep paper notes or use a whiteboard, find a place to put them so you can't see them.

* When you stop working, go outside and go for a walk. It doesn't have to be long; just 30 or even 15 minutes is fine. Don't be on your phone while you walk. Just walk around outside and take in the atmosphere. (Obviously if you are in a COVID-vulnerable group, be careful, and don't go out if you don't feel comfortable with it.)

* Wear different clothes when you're working vs. not.

* I get that you have a relatively small space overall, but if you can keep a consistent work area (that you don't generally use for other non-work things all that much), try to keep to your workspace while working, and keep out of it while not working.

* In your free time, adopt activities that occupy your mind. Whether that's reading a book, learning a language, or whatever, it's up to you. Mindless web browsing will make it easy for your brain to drift back to work, but if you're doing something mentally engaging, it's more likely work thoughts won't intrude.

------
apapli
Put on an old James Bond movie from the 60s and let my mind slow down a bit
once I’ve done all my family and household duties.

Or fire up flight simulator 2020, which has just been released and explore
some amazing place from the air.

------
ringe
Ah,I replace the siding of the house, after adding more insulation. Besides
being busy with physical work as a distraction, I try to focus on what my wife
and my kids want me to do.

So maybe go help someone renovate a house?

------
wernercd
Simple... I stop working after 6.

There are some exceptions (late night releases - but those are planned).

Otherwise, it's simple work is 9-5 and 6 is a hard cut-off.

Games, outside yard work, podcasts, etc. at 6 - if not earlier - a hard switch
occurs.

------
gallamine
I play a musical instrument to signal the end of the workday. Usually I'll
come down from the office and start playing the guitar for my family before
dinner and that's a great mental shift.

------
iancmceachern
Have some kind of "wind down" procedure. Once you've dont that, don't go back
to work until the next workday. It can be a end of the dah snack, a run, a
shower, whatever.

------
brightball
I have a dedicated space for work. When I’m not in it, I’m not at work.

------
Taylor_OD
Very relevant CGP Grey:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAhsXyO3Ck)

------
perryizgr8
I just take half an hour naps a couple of times during the day. Otherwise I'm
working from 8am to 2am. Life has really become meaningless due to this cursed
pandemic.

------
T-zex
I started learning to play a bass guitar, really helps to reset.

------
marthirial
If you live with someone you love (so,dog,cat) it is easy to build patterns
and enjoy their existence by stopping everything else and concentrating on
them.

------
captainbland
Find somewhere else to spend the rest of your evening, even if it's just a
different seat in the same room or something. That seems to be enough for me
at least.

------
saos
I do exactly that. I do not look at work emails. I do no check slack. No one
from work has my personal line except HR. I start/finish at the time I’m
contracted.

------
JoeAltmaier
Work a couple of hours, take a long bike ride with a destination (usually a
lunch spot), return, shower, work a couple of hours, close my desktop and make
dinner.

------
yodsanklai
1\. Turn off all notifications on your device 2\. Go out for exercise
(running, swimming, climbing, boxing...). At the very least, I'll go walk for
one hour.

------
Francute
HARD force yourself to close your laptop. Seriously. Then go for a walk just
around your block, or go to the gym. Some activity that forces yourself to
move

------
lo_fye
The (smart)lights in my office turn on at 9am. At 4:30 they turn red. At
5:00pm they turn off. I never stay in my office past when the lights turn off.

------
bamboozled
Finish work early, go out for a walk after your done and if you can, have a
separate root or room divider so you can't see your workstation.

------
rahoulb
I'm not a gamer, but I play a couple of games of FIFA and that removes all
work stuff from my brain.

I also make sure I put my phone on charge, in a separate room.

------
jwineinger
Not being trite, but I turn off my light and leave my desk. Setup your
calendar with lunch break and EOD events/meetings to give you reminders.

------
franzwong
I can switch off from work, but if I get a problem I can't solve in that day,
I will keep thinking about it for the whole day.

------
thelastinuit
1\. a place or space for work only. 2\. turn off every equipment related to
work, 3\. get away from the place or space to work. 4\. enjoy life.

It works for me.

------
itsmefaz
Move from using devices to other hobbies like being with the family, kids,
books, or just hanging out with friends

If you are into fitness.. all the better.

~~~
itsmefaz
Prayer, meditation are some of the other things that you can focus on.

------
SamReidHughes
I find billing hourly makes this easy. Being on salary or working on my own
projects makes this quite difficult (understatement).

------
deepakhj
Find a hobby and start doing it when you want to stop working. For me it's
surfing, working out in our homemade gym, or Warzone.

------
t0mislav
I put company laptop back to backpack, then hide backpack to it's place under
desk.

Also, emails on my phone is big no after working hours.

------
thrownaway954
join a social club or some other activity at night so that you are required
(or rather want) to be there at a certain time. then you have the push you
need to get out of the house at a certain time. personally i go to an AA
meeting every weeknight at 6:30 pm so I had no choice but stop working at 6 pm
and leave the house.

------
sudoaza
Have a separate browser for work, close it, close all work related console
tabs, put some youtube video or similar.

------
Maha-pudma
Exercise, and children. I also time my working day so when the times up that's
me done for the day.

------
SubuSS
I break up work and life with workouts. 30 min yoga in the morning and 1-2 hr
bike in evening. Has been great.

------
iamAy0
I just close the work's laptop and put in on the desk's drawer. Work's over
until next day.

------
barbs
Seems like a cliche suggestion but meditation is a good way to reset the mind
between work and non-work.

------
aashcan
Head out for a five/ten min walk before you begin working to mimic a commute
to work..

------
comprev
A few tips from working remote over the years:

1\. Start your day by going out of the house - walk the dog, collect a
newspaper, watch the sunrise, do some exercise.

2\. When you return, shower and change into "work" clothes. Perhaps these are
smarter than home clothes. Maybe a light shirt or collared t-shirt with some
trousers. Wear the same as if you were meeting your boss (or their boss!).
Personally I feel more professional when wearing 'work' clothes.

3\. When finished your tasks switch off your work laptop and PUT IT AWAY
somewhere like a laptop bag. The old adage "out of sight, out of mind" is very
important when living in the same area as your "office". Physically packing it
away means it's much more effort to use it again, thus helping resist the urge
to "check something" when not necessary.

I am fortunate enough to have a spare room which I can lock the door. The key
lives hung up elsewhere in the house - so I can't "pop into the office" on a
whim.

4\. End of the day go out of the house - again - then return and change into
"home" clothes. The fresh air and physical detachment from your home allows
you to unwind.

TL;DR - have specific work clothes; store your laptop out of sight; "commute"
before and after work to get out of the house.

------
ferros
Get changed after work into different clothes. Even better, get changed for
exercise.

------
brian_herman__
I use a separate computer and turn it off and dont use it for the rest of the
day.

------
fbrncci
I either start lifting or go running for a hour after my workday is over.

------
lscotte
Simple - just stop doing work. It's literally as simple as that.

------
mattbee
Have children! They are great at enforcing "off" time.

------
silicon2401
5pm latest -> work laptop closed and put away. easy as that.

------
johnnymonster
Have a few drinks or watch some mindless TV.

------
dpcan
I disable Email notifications on my phone.

------
newusertoday
go for a walk in evening and pretend you are coming back from office and
follow your usual post office routine

------
fastball
I start reading my current fiction book.

------
baq
I have kids

------
batt4good
Weed.

------
bhurlow
yoga, not even kidding

------
autisticcurio
I've never been able to switch off irrespective of whether I worked as an
employee in an office somewhere or for myself at home. Maslows Hierarchy of
Needs should explain why some people cant switch off, but fortunately as you
get older your body fails you so exhaustion or failing health will literally
switch you off.

