The 5pm commute that never actually happens is ruining my life

Does anyone else feel like they never actually leave the office anymore because the office is literally five feet from their bed. When I worked in the city I had this 40 minute train ride that was basically my mental reset button where I could just listen to music and stop being a professional and start being a human being. Now that I am remote for the second year in a row I find myself still sitting at my desk at 7:30pm just because I saw a notification pop up while I was heading to the kitchen to make some pasta. It is like because I dont have that physical transition of leaving a building I just stay in work mode until I literally pass out.

I tried the whole fake commute thing where you walk around the block at 5pm but I just felt like a total idiot walking in circles and then coming back to the same apartment where my laptop is still staring at me from the corner of the room. My partner is starting to get annoyed because even when we are watching a movie I am thinking about that one email I didnt send because technically I am still at my workplace. It is exhausting and I feel like I am working more hours now than I ever did when I had a boss breathing down my neck in a cubicle. How do you guys actually shut your brain off when your home has basically been colonized by your job.

Posted Mar 30, 2026, 3:43 PM UTC

015
Loading comments…