[flukus]

> My feeling is that working in an office makes it possible for me to separate work from the rest of my life

This is seems to be pretty common, can you explain why it's so hard to separate?

Generally I start the work day by turning on the work computer, when I'm done I turn it off and anything beyond that is the sort of rare exception I would have logged in from home for even if I was working in the office. That and a couple of other little rituals like switching coffee mugs and wearing pants gives me all the separation I need.

[tehbeard]

Most of us don't have a separate room for an office, or might be stuck using our own equipment (pc, phone) for our job now, which blurs the lines on home/work.

[zimpenfish]

> which blurs the lines on home/work.

I set up a `work` account on my laptop which helps to give a distinction because it keeps all of "my" stuff away (although I will confess to logging into HN as me from the `work` account...)

Lacking a distinct room is tricky but I got a little folding desk that's designated as "work" - when it's up, it's work time. Otherwise it goes down the side of the couch/chair.

Not the same as commuting to an office but little things that give a slightly brighter edge between home/work.

[jolux]

Yeah, I have to work in the same room that I sleep in, and I only have one monitor and one desk.

[anthropodie]

I understand.

But if you could choose permanent work from home would you really work from the same room? In my case, I would ditch my apartment go back to my hometown build a home with a dedicated office.

[Ekaros]

Moved back to my hometown with above median wage. Still can't afford 3 rooms... So no office for me. Just not realistic in some parts of world. Unless I'm willing to move far away from the town itself(everything is relative, European distances for towns are short).

[jolux]

I wouldn’t choose it because I don’t like it. I’m not going to change a housing situation I like a lot just to make it easier to work from where I live. That’s the opposite of work-life balance, to me.