The Fake Commute

In today's session, Dr Aditi Nerurkar invites you to join her for a fake commute. If you are a hybrid or fully remote worker, you understand that the blur between work and home can be a struggle. While many of us dread commuting to work, this part of our daily routine allows us to create work-life boundaries by helping us process our workday and transition to home mode. This simple yet effective practice facilitates this transition and reduces the chances of burnout.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to day 29 of Insight Timer's Building Healthy Habits Challenge.

Let's take a moment to get settled.

Close your eyes,

Take a deep breath in and exhale out.

Let's dive into today's healthy habit.

Hello and welcome to the Building Healthy Habits Challenge here on Insight Timer.

My name is Dr.

Aditi Narukar and today I'm going to guide you through a practice I use in my own life called the fake commute.

The fake commute is a simple yet effective strategy to help you manage your stress and overcome your burnout.

We're living in the new normal.

The future of work is hybrid.

Some of you work from home,

Others from the office,

And a large proportion of you,

Like me,

Do a little bit of both.

There are so many benefits to hybrid work.

Less burnout,

More autonomy,

Greater productivity,

And improved well-being.

In fact,

85% of employees around the world prefer this new way of working.

If you're doing hybrid work,

You've hopefully gained all of these benefits along with more flexibility.

But you've lost something along the way.

Your commute.

I know your daily commute is probably a dreaded part of your day,

But it serves two important roles from the scientific point of view.

The first role is purely geographic.

It gets you from point A to point B.

But the second role is more important.

It's psychological.

Your commute helps your brain transition from home mode to work mode.

Our brain loves compartmentalization.

Creating separation and boundaries is what helps it thrive.

Which is why,

Back in 2020,

When you were working,

Living,

And possibly parenting in the same physical space,

Your mental bandwidth was compromised and your mental health was less than optimal.

So today,

I want to take you on a fake commute.

We're going to do a walking meditation together.

Before we head outside,

I'd like you to take a few minutes to set up your workstation at home.

Organize your space.

Adjust the temperature and lighting in your home office.

Turn on your computer or laptop.

Charge your devices.

Get your coffee mug ready.

And consider filling up your water bottle and keeping it by your desk.

Now we're ready.

Let's put on a coat and head outside.

As you leave your home and lock your front door,

Take a minute to stop.

Breathe.

And be.

Now we're ready.

Let's put on a coat and head outside.

Turn on your computer or laptop.

Charge your devices.

Get your coffee mug ready.

And consider filling up your water bottle and keeping it by your desk.

Now we're ready.

Let's put on a coat and head outside.

Take a minute to stop.

Breathe.

And be.

You're leaving the comfort of your home and stepping out into the world to begin your work day.

The stop,

Breathe,

And be method is your moment to take a pause and get grounded before your day begins.

Let's take a familiar path today.

We'll walk down your street and around your block.

Get into a relaxed cadence with your walk.

Whatever feels natural to you is the right pace.

Now take a few good deep breaths of fresh outside air.

Feel that crisp air moving in through your nostrils and filling up your lungs.

Do this for a few breaths in silence.

Now,

Look up at the sky.

When's the last time you looked up to take in the expanse of the big blue sky above you?

Notice the color.

Is it bright and sunny where you are or cloudy and overcast?

Maybe you're walking early in the morning and can still see the remnants of last night's moon.

As you walk,

Feel the elements on your face.

Maybe it's warm sunshine or cold wind.

Perhaps a few raindrops or snowflakes depending on where you live.

Whatever the element you're walking in,

Take it all in and embrace the moment.

Now look at the trees around you as you walk with their leaves and branches.

Are they lush and green or bare and sparse?

Look around and absorb it all.

Spend the next few moments in silence and take it all in.

Now,

Bring your attention to your walking feet.

As you walk on the ground,

Think about articulating the soles of your feet with the ground.

Focus on your feet as they walk.

When you do this,

It's a wonderful way to tap into your mind-body connection from the ground up.

Feel the connection and sturdiness of your feet on the ground as they hold you up while you walk.

Dig into that support.

Did you know that your feet have 30 bones and 100 muscles?

That's a lot of power in one tiny area of your body.

Your feet are an often overlooked grounding force during chaotic times.

Focusing on your walking feet can help you stay anchored in the present moment.

It's a form of movement meditation.

Think about your feet as you walk,

Your breath moving in and out of your lungs and the elements all around you.

Let's do this for a few minutes in silence.

Open your eyes.

As you walk,

Notice your energy and mood.

Are you feeling drained,

Sleepy,

Energetic,

Or refreshed?

Did you have a good night's sleep or do you need more rest?

Take stock of your emotions and mental bandwidth as you walk.

Now reflect on something positive that happened yesterday either at work or in your personal life.

And now think about something that you're looking forward to this week or weekend.

What's going to keep you going so you can make it through today?

Let your mind wander for a few moments in silence.

Relaxing music playing.

Now,

Let's get back to the beginning.

To the present moment.

It's time to slowly prepare for the start of your workday.

If you didn't have time to drink coffee at home this morning,

And want to pick up some coffee from your local cafe,

Go ahead and do that now.

I'll be here when you get back with your coffee cup in hand.

Now let's take a look at your work calendar for today.

If you'd like to take a seat while doing this,

Feel free to find a park bench or a spot outside.

If you'd rather keep walking,

That's fine too.

So what do you have scheduled for today?

Who are you meeting with,

And what do you need to do to prepare?

Are there specific projects you're working on that need prioritizing?

Strategize how your workday is going to flow today.

Let's spend a few moments in silence so you can give yourself a moment of time,

Space,

And clarity to plan out your day.

And then come back.

Now that you've prepared for what's ahead,

It's time to head back to sleep.

You've done something very important for your brain on this simple walk.

You've allowed it to fully transition away from home mode and into work mode.

You've honored your brain's need for compartmentalization.

After today's fake commute,

I hope you feel calm,

Centered,

And ready to tackle your work day ahead.

When you enter your home office,

You'll now officially be in work mode.

Embody that role as you enter and walk back into your home.

You have just completed your first fake commute.

Try to do this every day for a few minutes to transition away from home mode and into work mode.

The fake commute is a simple yet effective practice to use every day to improve your energy,

Mood,

And attention while working from home.

It's also a potent way to minimize your stress and burnout in this new era of hybrid work when you're functioning in the same physical space all day.

You may also want to consider repeating this process when you're done with your work day today.

Pack up your workstation,

Power down your devices,

And head outside for your reverse fake commute.

Spend a few minutes on your evening commute thinking about what you achieved today and what's on deck for tomorrow.

On an errand like a quick visit to the grocery store or pick up your dry cleaning.

When you enter your home again,

You'll have a new mindset and be ready to take on the challenges of home mode.

I hope you experiment with the fake commute in your work life this week.

After doing this practice for a few days,

Ask yourself,

Does my brain feel less crowded?

Do I have more mental bandwidth?

Can I focus better on tasks?

Do I have a greater sense of completion?

And finally,

Do I feel more of a balance and separation between my work self and my home self?

Your experience with the fake commute is unique and valuable.

We're all here to learn from one another,

So let us know how it worked for you in the discussion forum below.

I truly hope the fake commute can empower you and serve as a tool in your growing arsenal of self-care strategies to help you minimize your stress and burnout in these uncertain and changing times.

Reviews

Thank you very much! I’m excited to put this into practice!🎉🌺🥳

So powerful - thank you 🙏

Thank you for this commute! It was very helpful!

Great positive inspiring meditation was more of a speaker chat but I imagined getting my coffee and seeing/feeling the things going on. Well done!

Loved this!

I want to do this every day. But let's start by doing it until the end of the week... here's hoping I can turn this into a habit 🙏

Namaste

Nicely done! I appreciate the input I am, although I already have a commute today and I will use this walking meditation strategy anyway

I go out to work but I think the fake commute will be very useful when I want to tackle big tasks at home on my days off. I want to have a major spring clean but dread doing it.
I'm going to see if including a fake commute and scheduling my task I have success in completing this big chore.
Thank you.
I feel there are many ways in which this will be a useful tool 🙏🙂

I am surprised by the negative reviews by the person unable to use their pause button, and the person with the "real" commute. This session was an insightful one regarding how the brain works. I have commuted for decades and never really looked at that necessarily as a mental process.

The weather was too active for me to walk out and do this truly today, so I visualized it. At first I thought to skip it, as I have my real commute in another hour, but I did it anyway and I am happy I did. I will be incorporating this into future remote days, and also when I have something I need to work on from home to help with focus. Thank you.

What a wonderful and practical guide! Wish I had had this tool in my arsenal during early days of COVID. We all missed that need to compartmentalize things!

🙏🙏🙏

Grateful for you making this specific meditation. I see that it was your first and I’m hopeful that you will make more as it was truly helpful. Thank you.

Wonderful idea 🤩 I love this and kinda did it already when working from home by walking before after work but got more aware of the separation of work/life balance 🫶