
Ask HN: How to switch off from work? - sdeepak
Like mentally. Not just physically. Taking breaks, strategic time-outs are all ok but many times that isn&#x27;t much of help.
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EADGBE
You'll need hobbies, or just "something to do".

But most importantly, _you need a job where you can do actually do this_.

I've worked for a few startups (wow, ironic) where it was impossible to switch
off because everything was being thrown at me as often as possible.

Yeah, they had unlimited vacation and perks like "work from home", "summer
Fridays", "beer:30" but these were mostly ruses which helped them be even more
effective; not me.

The easiest way to start to separate your work from your life is to move into
a boring job. Sorry.

Moving fast and breaking things is cool. Changing the world is super-cool. But
it's mostly passion-based work. In the heat of passion, a lot of things get
overlooked.

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cimmanom
An active commute. Walking, running, cycling. At least 20 minutes. Let your
mind wander. Do not check or answer work communications during your commute.
If you can get away with it, don’t check/answer them once your commute is over
either.

If you work from home, first off, set aside a space that is dedicated to work.
Secondly, create rituals for leaving work that include activities you never do
while working. Maybe that’s reading fiction or meditating or yoga or lighting
candles or singing karaoke or whatever. Your ritual should take at least 20
minutes, and not be allowed to be interrupted by work.

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x0hm
1) Weed

2) Get in the habit of writing down everything that's in your head. I keep a
simple bullet journal so that everything in my head has a single place to go.
Note: It's better to actually physically WRITE it than to type it.

3) Hobbies. Find something your passionate about that you look forward to
doing when you're off work. That'll keep your brain off of the other stuff.

4) Exercise. A lot of time, mental anxiety can be cured with physical effort.

Those are ways I've successfully done it. Any of them work for me, but they're
ordered here by the most effective (for me).

Just find a way to get it out of your head, and it should stay out until you
get bored.

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wingerlang
For a specific situation where you cannot switch off because you have all your
work on your computer, which you also use as a personal one -- I've started
using a separate user account for personal and work since almost a year.

The hassle of maintaining two setups, having to log into the personal/work one
to do something even small has helped me almost completely tune out work when
I don't need it.

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brokenmachine
Sport is where I go to forget everything except what I'm doing _right now_.

Tennis is my sport, and takes a lot of concentration to play well. Loss of
focus is death in tennis.

Also all the focusing my eyes from near to far over and over again I think
evens out the hours spent staring at a screen two feet away.

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cerberusss
Gaming. Play Fallout for an hour straight and I guarantee you're no longer
thinking about work.

You probably don't want to sit behind a desk with a keyboard and mouse,
though. Get a console.

~~~
ssijak
I was gaming a lot when I was younger. Now, I just cant get into a game that I
know I would like as a kid because it really feels like time wasting, even
when I just want to chill out. Dont know how to remove that feeling. But only
games that do not feel like that are thing like PES played against friends in
RL.

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Jabberwockie
weed

~~~
Jabberwockie
\- friends \- go out \- do sports \- go to social courses

