Have a few drinks or watch some mindless TV.
Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
151–160 of 318 posts
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#152Dedicate 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. Al…
Shoes. For me, I have to put on street shoes. Pants too, of course. It's all part of sticking to a routine that I would do if I was going to work in an office. I wear jeans and t-shirts rather than business causal, but I shower, shave, and dress like I'm going to an office.
Taking a walk is a great idea, especially for separating the end of the work day from personal time.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#153I disable Email notifications on my phone.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#154Remote 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 manag…
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?
We try to keep meetings to a minimum (the entire company's remote, so async has always been more central to our communication). If I do have to have one that's late for me, I'll usually make a point of taking some hours earlier in the day off to compensate.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#155I 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 asid…
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.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#156I use a separate computer and turn it off and dont use it for the rest of the day.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#157I 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.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#158I 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…
> coach my kids in baseball
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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.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#159Enforce 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.
Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?
#1601. 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.