I get up for work, do the kids thing, but then I walk nearly all the way to the train station, order a coffee as if I'm headed to the office, pick it up, turn around and walk back home.

I completely agree with you. Routine is important and the first half hour of walking is usually trash, the real important thinking and debriefing happens in the 2nd half hour. I don't listen to podcasts or wear headphones anymore to get there sooner.

A lot of videogames have their value tied up in 'forcing' players to spend a few minutes (or hours) on logistics that eventually give rise to ritual, rather than just giving them a teleport button.

We're building a metaverse for knowledge workers with a default approach of "use the physics engine, not magic" when moving around objects - be they virtual robots, sticky notes or walls. Simulating the seemingly annoying, tedious, mundane logistical act of moving through space seems to have genuine benefits in terms of how you think, what rituals you undertake (big and small/collectively or individually), and who you bump into.

Maybe it's not utterly ridiculous that in the future your first few minutes clocked into a virtual environment will just be getting to your workspace. Or I could just have overly fond memories of the Half Life opening sequence https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw63pZcBJH8

This is going to sound ridiculous, but is there any kind of mass transit nearby? Buses, even? If so, are there any routes you can take that get you back home in that amount(-ish) of time?

Maybe part of what did it for you was motion and changing physical scenery. Maybe lack of control, knowing you had to ride all the way, uninterrupted, had something to do with it. Maybe it had to do with introducing strangers to your environment. And I'm sure there are more possible factors that helped you mentally decompress.

Ha, as crazy as this sounds, it’s actually a viable option. I live in a downtown area that has these free antique trolleys. I could just hop on and take a loop.

When I took my job, I was car-free, so I chose an apartment 2 blocks from my office. That has given me so many benefits, not the least of which is going home on lunch for fall-asleep naps in my own bed. However, lacking that transition time between my two worlds means my mind is neither ready to engage when I get to work, nor de-cluttered before I get home. I'm looking to move, to extend my commute.

I have noticed the same. The tyranny of commuting is that you must do it. There is no choice. But exercise is optional and requires additional will power. You won’t be physically stuck at work if you don’t work out. The tyranny can be surrender to and really helps with the change in mindset.