It's interesting how we can have opposite reactions to the same situation; working in previous jobs I hated, getting home at night left me feeling drained of energy and needing to "decompress". I could never focus on my own work until I quit the day job.
_Soul of a New Machine_ quotes Tom West, who directed development of Data General's first 32-bit mini, as saying (roughly), The problem with stupid jobs is that they leave you too tired to do anything when you go home. (Adjective not vouched for.)
I feel the same way. The periods when my motivation and thus productivity at work are lowest, my brain's least productive after work. It's because I am consumed by the guilt of not having done my job during the day.
On the contrary when I am productive at work, there's a spring in my step when I go home and my mind is ready to happily tackle new problems.
Seconded. I'm the same way. There were times where I'd mentally shut down and couldn't even browse the internet because I couldn't think straight. Working on my own projects was a joke while working at that particular company.