Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#91

Post by maps7 » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:21 PM UTC

peruvian wrote: post #75

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.

I close my laptop after around 7.5/8 hours of working and don't open it until the next morning.

I also close it during lunch and make sure to take a solid break. Either walk or TV time.

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#92

Post by luxurytent » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:23 PM UTC

neutronicus wrote: post #89

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

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 :)

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#93

Post by gwbas1c » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:23 PM UTC

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.")

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#94

Post by kissgyorgy » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:24 PM UTC

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#95

Post by kho » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:29 PM UTC

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!

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#96

Post by smoe » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:31 PM UTC

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#97

Post by SAI_Peregrinus » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:32 PM UTC

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#98

Post by BlackCherry » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:32 PM UTC

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.

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#99

Post by SubuSS » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:33 PM UTC

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

Re: Ask HN: How do you switch off from work, particularly when working from home?

#100

Post by np_tedious » Tue, Aug 18, 2020, 1:33 PM UTC

millerm wrote: post #72

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…

If this room is shared for other purposes (mine is), I find simply closing the laptop and perhaps putting it in a drawer to be surprisingly effective.