The Fake Commute
Bookend your work-from-home day with a short walk to compartmentalize your brain.
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 87%
The Fake Commute recreates the psychological benefit of a commute for people who work from home. A real commute does two jobs: moving you from A to B, and shifting your brain from home mode into work mode. Hybrid work, now preferred by over 80% of people, removes that transition. To replace it, spend five to ten minutes taking a walk outside at the start of the day, checking your schedule and planning, then repeat the ritual at day's end to switch back. This buffer preserves brain compartmentalization and healthy boundaries while keeping all the autonomy and productivity gains of working from home.
Origin
Nerurkar developed the fake commute from observing the compartmentalization loss during pandemic quarantine and the shift to hybrid work, and practices it herself.
Core principles
- 01A commute serves a psychological role, not just transport, by switching you from home mode to work mode
- 02Hybrid and remote work remove that transition, so the brain loses its compartmentalization
- 03A short deliberate ritual can replace the lost buffer without giving up remote-work benefits
How to run it
- 1
Set up and step out in the morning
On work-from-home days, set up your workstation, then head outside for a 5 to 10 minute walk.
Pro tip Use the walk to check your schedule and mentally run through what you need to accomplish.
- 2
Let your brain switch modes
Treat the walk as the transition that moves your brain out of home mode and into work mode.
- 3
Repeat in reverse at day's end
At the end of the workday, take the same short walk to switch your brain back from work mode to home mode.
Pro tip The end-of-day version is what keeps work from bleeding into home life.
In the wild
On remote days Nerurkar sets up her workstation, takes a short walk outside to review her schedule, and does the same in reverse at the end of the day.
→ She keeps the mental separation of a commute while retaining every benefit of working from home.
Common mistakes
Rolling straight from bed into work
Skipping any transition ritual leaves the brain without compartmentalization, blurring home and work and eroding boundaries.
Is it for you?
Best for
Remote and hybrid workers and entrepreneurs who work from home.
Not ideal for
People whose commute or office routine already provides clear compartmentalization.
From the transcript
“on the days that you're working from home, for 5 or 10 minutes, set up your workstation, head outside, take a walk, check your schedule...…”
“the commute serves two roles. So, first, just getting you from point A to point B, but it also serves a psychological role.”
From the episode
Dr. Aditi Nerurkar: How to Rewire Your Brain to Stress Less and Relax More
Dr. Aditi Nerurkar