I’m binge watching Severance, the Apple TV show where the characters have chosen to ‘sever’ their consciousness and split into work selves (innies) and home selves (outies), essentially creating two separate individuals, each with limited awareness of the other.

On the severed floor, the innies’ workspace is spacious, open plan and minimalist. Their routines, tasks and targets are set by management, and their colleagues chosen at random. Within this environment they build relationships and evolve into a strong team, sharing their hopes, dreams, worries and fears.

It’s a premise that got me thinking about the similarities between Severance and my own reality.

I mean, I also go to work and sit in a modern, open plan office. I work in a close and supportive team with colleagues I’d never have met outside of work. But we’ve been thrown together by careers and circumstance, and created our own, close community.

Then I thought about how I show up at work. How different are my innie and outie selves? What version of me do my colleagues see, versus what my friends and family see?

MY INNIE is careful about how she dresses. She’d never wear jeans. She’s chatty. Decent coffee is important to her. She’s a perfectionist. She worries. She can be quiet on Teams calls. She loves going out for Thursday beers. She avoids confrontation. She is sensitive.

MY OUTIE is bossy and loud. She looks for space. She loves being outside and on the move. She plays tennis well. She wears jeans every day. She has a German Shepherd and they look for newts in ponds. She keeps bees. She has few friends but they are very close. She is private. Her family is everything to her.

Unlike the characters in Severance, my work and home personalities know each other well. My outie gets frustrated with my innie, while my innie frequently tries to explain why she behaves the way she does.

We’re less severed, more separated.

Do you have an innie and outie self in the office and outside? And if you do, how different are they from each other?

• LinkedIn