diff --git a/.envrc b/.envrc
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..86241311
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.envrc
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+source .venv/bin/activate
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 189378da..531502c4 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ scss/assets
 .pytest_cache/
 .venv/
 __pycache__
+*.pyc
 
 # Ignore static/fonts for now, since it is just symlink
 static/fonts
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index de7f0cbe..4d3d6933 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -11,7 +11,11 @@ The setup script will create a new Python virtual environment for the applicatio
 
     source .venv/bin/activate
 
-If you want to automatically load the virtual environment whenever you enter the project directory, take a look at [direnv](https://direnv.net/)
+When you are done, type
+
+    deactivate
+
+If you want to automatically load the virtual environment whenever you enter the project directory, take a look at [direnv](https://direnv.net/).  An `.envrc` file is included in this repository.  direnv will activate and deactivate virtualenvs for you when you enter and leave the directory.
 
 ## Running (development)