Anyone else physically home but mentally still "at work" for hours after logging off?
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realise this was an actual thing. I'd sit down to eat dinner and be completely present in body — but still running a loop of "did I handle that email wrong?" or "I should've said X in that standup."
I looked it up and apparently there's a name for it: the Cognitive Switching Penalty. Basically, when we don't have some kind of clear "end of work" signal, the brain stays in high-alert mode. It keeps treating unresolved problems as open threats. That's why you're irritable with the people around you even when nothing is actually wrong — your nervous system still thinks you're in crisis mode.
A few things that have actually helped me:
- Using the commute (or a fake one) — even a 10-min walk after clocking off acts like a "third space" between work-you and home-you. If you WFH, this one's underrated.
- Brain dump before closing the laptop — write down every unfinished thing. Not to solve it, just to "park" it. Tells your brain it's okay to stop chewing on it.
- Conscious identity shift — sounds woo-woo but asking yourself "what does [partner/parent/friend]-me want to do right now?" actually helps redirect attention.
Curious if anyone else struggles with this — and what's worked for you? The "always on" thing feels like it's getting worse, not better.