This is true. Early in his career, the writer John Cheever owned a single suit. He would dress in this suit each morning, ride the elevator down to his apartment building’s basement, then strip off the suit and write in his underwear until it was time to dress again and go back up.

Change of scenery

One of the best resources a home-based worker can have is designated work space. An office with a door is the gold standard, but any workstation you can literally walk away from signals to you, and anyone you share a home with, when you’re on the clock. (If space is really at a premium, this desk folds up at the end of a shift and hides all your papers.)

Sensory shift

Several respondents had the intriguing idea to mark work time with a specific scent—a cost-effective way of transforming a space from home to work.

Rituals

If you have children or pets, you have an immediate excuse to turn your attention elsewhere when work is finished (and, often, even when it’s not). If external obligations don’t already create a hard stop to your day, find some that do. Scheduling a workout class or other activity at the time you want to stop working is a great motivator to wrap things up.

Turn off

There’s no more effective way to unplug from the workday than by literally powering down.

🖋 Sign up for The Memo from Quartz at Work

A dispatch from the world of modern work. Learn how you can help create a productive, creative, and compassionate work culture.