191–200 of 318 posts
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.…
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.
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.
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. Knot…
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 y…
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.
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.