Set limits while working from home

Thanks to the pandemic, the boundaries between work and home have officially been breached. And it looks like it will stay that way for the foreseeable future — which is all the more reason to make subtle improvements, said Scott Sonenshein, co-author of “Joy at

Work” with Marie Kondo.

Start by finding ways to delineate when work starts — and when it ends, he said. How to do this when your boss is e-mailing you 24/7? It’s easier than you think.

Create a symbolic commute

This could be a walk down the hallway in your apartment building, or a concerted effort to step away from your home workspace. Sonenshein takes it outside: “In the morning, I like to walk around the block and then walk into my house to start work,” he said. “Then, at the end of the day, I ‘commute’ back with another walk, which signals to everyone in my house that my work time has ended.”

Hide your devices

“E-mails are intrusive, not just because of the time it takes to read them. It takes 23 minutes for the brain to recover — to pick up from where it left off,” he said. It bears repeating: You’re not giving yourself a break if you go through your e-mails. You know to put your devices down at the end of the day, but take it a step further: Set them in a drawer — and close it! — ‘til morning.

Don’t let work consume you

While we’re socially distancing it’s easy to let work take over, especially if you have few hobbies or things that occupy your time. “Instead of saying, ‘I have nothing going on, I’m going to dive into work,’ carve out space for yourself,” he says. “Close your eyes, listen to music and give yourself down time to be able to mentally recover.”