Guide · after-work · 3 min read
Using the commute as a boundary between work and home — what actually works, when you are cold and want to be warm
The commute is the only transition most people get. Used deliberately, it stops the workday following you into the kitchen.
Start here
Every point here is written so that a bad week is still enough to manage it.
Get a blanket first. Being cold defeats the point.
If you only do one thing from this page, do the first point below. It is first because it removes the most friction for the least effort.
What helps
Do not use the whole journey for email. If you must, do it in the first ten minutes and then stop.
Have something to listen to that is not work-related. A podcast about anything else is a clean boundary.
If the day was bad, give yourself the length of the journey to be annoyed about it. Then stop. Not because it does not matter, but because carrying it further costs you the evening.
What to do when it does not work
When you get in, change your clothes. It sounds trivial and it works — the body uses it as a signal.
Decide the moment work ends. It can be leaving the building, getting on the train, or a specific stop. Without a marker, work follows you home.
If you drive, do not spend the journey rehearsing tomorrow. Play something, or listen to nothing at all.
Questions people ask
What if I work from home?
Then invent a commute: a ten-minute walk around the block at the end of the day. The point is the transition, not the travel.
I have to answer messages in the evening.
Then set one time for it. Checking continuously is more draining than answering everything twice.
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