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I had a remote job for seven years, most of which I spent living in a couple of studio apartments, so - as you're experiencing - there was no way to separate work space from living space. In order to keep from having time become a blur, I had to develop some artificial rituals around beginning and especially ending the work day. At one apartment I slept on a folding futon couch. I would "go to work" by folding it up and putting all the pillows away. Ta-da, now I'm "in the office", time to work. Done with work? Close the laptop, leave the apartment, walk around the block, maybe get a snack, come back home. Hey! I just came home from work, time to relax. Leaving the apartment and re-entering it, even if I was only gone a few minutes, was a really useful signal. Later on I decided to strictly separate personal computing from work computing. No personal website logins on the work computer; no company code or email accouts on the personal computer. I also tried putting DNS blocks on my favorite recreational web sites on the work computer, so I'd be forced to swivel my chair around and use the personal computer. This way, I could carry on with email, browsing the web, and writing code on personal projects after work hours, using my personal machine, without feeling like I was still "at work" on my work machine. I don't know what will work for you, but perhaps choosing to create some artificial barriers like these will help. |