Walking in any direction I like, I set a 15-minute timer so I know when to turn around and head home. Photo: Shapa Blog.
Chris Bailey has discovered a morning ritual that helps him get into ”office mode” even though he has been working from home for many years.
I’ve worked from home for the past decade or so and despite all the benefits this brings, I do occasionally miss elements of my long-ago morning commute.
There were things like the audiobook time as I rode into the office and the quiet moments of transition that book-ended my workday.
To compensate, I’ve found a ritual to serve these same functions. As an experiment, I’ve started a ”fake active commute” each morning.
To my surprise, the ritual has stuck, and gives me everything I used to love about this morning routine – without any of the annoying bits of actually commuting.
Here’s what it looks like: After getting ready in the morning, I dress for the outdoors as though I’m walking to the office, bundling up in a thick coat in the winter months. Stepping out of the house, I walk in whatever direction I feel like. I set a 15-minute timer so I know when to turn around and head home – that way, my ”commute” is 30 minutes. That’s all there is to it.
I’ve found this ritual offers much more than a healthy bout of morning exercise. It also gives me the chance to mentally transition into work mode. I also have time to reflect on what I want to accomplish and get out of the day, while there is an opportunity to generate ideas.
Not to mention the benefits of fresh air before sitting indoors all day, and maybe even a chance to say hello to people I meet who aren’t on the other side of a webcam. There is even an opportunity to listen to an audiobook if I am so inclined, so I can start the day surrounded by ideas, not email.
In other words, this fake morning commute offers me everything my regular commute used to. Odd as it may sound, I find I return home with fresh eyes. Walking into my house afterwards, I feel like I’m stepping into a new place, even though it’s the same building I left 30 minutes prior.
I’ve gone through the motions and feel as though I’ve arrived. This has become a helpful mental cue that it’s time to get some serious work done.
The fake morning commute is a simple ritual, but you might be surprised by how well it works when you’re working from home.
Chris Bailey has written hundreds of articles on the subject of productivity, and is the author of two books: Hyperfocus, and The Productivity Project. He can be contacted at https://alifeofproductivity.com/author/chris/. This article first appeared on Chris’s website.
