How To Switch Off From Work When Home Becomes Your Office

Be mindful of where you’re working.

We don’t all have the benefit of having a spare room or office to work in while working from home – but it’s worth trying to work in a room that you’re unlikely to spend the rest of the evening in.

Then, when you’re relaxing post-work, it’ll help you ward off that feeling you’re chilling in your office, say James Pacey and Rosa Connor, co-founders of Haptivate, who run happiness at work workshops.

Switch off (literally) and unplug.

It’s far less tempting to see if you’ve got a reply to that email, or an update on a project, if your laptop isn’t sat on the table or desk in front of you. Physically putting your laptop screen down, or turning off the computer, will do you the world of good.

Move the laptop into a drawer, or hide it away so you can’t see it. It might also be worth tidying up the work space, signalling that you’re done for the day. “Switch off, unplug and recharge yourself so you can pitch up feeling fresh tomorrow,” says Reading.

Chambers calls this a “digital sunset”, where you shut down your work devices, leave them in the designated work spot, and move to a place where environmentally you relax.

Plan an activity for the end of the day.

First off, you should leave your home when you finish. “Leave your home like you’re leaving work, walk around the block, and return ‘home’,” says Chambers. “Simulating a commute helps you disconnect from work.”

When you’re in an office, at the end of regular working hours, employees say goodbye and announce they’re signing off for the evening. “You can help to draw a boundary between work and home-life by planning an activity to do at the end of the working day,” say Pacey and Connor.

For example, you might do a workout, meditate or call family members at the same time every day, helping you to unplug from work and setting you up to spend your evening relaxing.