I've been remote for about 2 years now and I still can't seem to shut it down at 5. My home office is literally 20 feet from the kitchen so I keep checking Slack while eating dinner with the kids. Wife called me out last week for answering emails during our family movie night. How do you guys draw the line? I need to actually be present when I'm home.
I get this. After two years remote you've basically trained yourself to always be on. Podcasts on my commute helped me when I still had one. Now that I'm hybrid I guard my actual off time pretty carefully.
Set a hard stop time and stick to it. I know that's easier said than done but your family needs you mentally checked out, not just physically in the house. Took me a while to figure that out.
I struggle with this too. What finally worked was treating the end of my workday like an actual commute. I take a lap around the block, come back, and then I'm 'home.' Weird but it works.
Two years in and still struggling? Try setting a phone timer that goes off at 5. Sounds dumb but it forces you to acknowledge that time is up. Your family deserves the same you that would leave an office building.
This is real. I work from home and my home office is basically attached to the kitchen. I had to make a physical rule - I close the door at 5 and don't open it until the next morning. Sounds simple but it actually works.
The thing that helped me was physically leaving the house after work. Even just a 20 minute walk around the block. Clears your head and makes the transition real instead of just moving from one room to another.
Try closing the door to your office at 5 and don't open it again. Sounds simple but the physical act of separating yourself helps break the mental cycle.
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This is my exact struggle. Home office closes at 5 but my brain doesn't. I've started physically leaving the house to walk around the block at end of day just to flip the switch.