Read on for seven practical and pragmatic steps you can take to reset and relax after a busy week. While stress and anxiety are very similar, they have a few key differences. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. For example, you could say that you want to revisit what’s expected of you outside of working hours because things feel a bit overwhelming right now.

• Organize your desk or workspace to help you stay productive and feel more accomplished throughout the day.
• Skip the surface-level scribbles about your crushes and get to the juicy stuff.
• Getting enough, high-quality sleep is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health.

It is important to acknowledge your feelings without judgement, and an effective way to do this is by stating how you feel at the moment using “I” statements. Give yourself the gift of me-time by enjoying a nice hot bath or shower after work to wash the stress away.

Not only can it reduce blood pressure, but it can also stabilize breathing and decrease anxiety. Learning to manage stress is an important aspect of your overall health. If you are having trouble destressing after work, try to slowly incorporate some of these tips into your after-work ritual. By learning how to deal with and recover from stress, you will be able to be more effective, present, and productive both at work and in your personal life. If you feel like your house is a mess, it will only contribute to your sense of stress when you get home from a busy day. Consider spending some time getting rid of things you no longer need and organizing what you’re keeping into systems.

Things To Stop Doing To Get In The Best Shape Of Your Life

Long-term exposure to unmanaged stress can take a toll on your body and mental health, and recent research suggests a potential link between work-related burnout and depression and anxiety. Spend time crafting to help you release any negative energy and get you doing something more enjoyable. Consider knitting, painting, drawing or making jewelry after work. These activities can help you improve your creative thinking and give you an outlet to release any stress from the day. Many people bake desserts to help them relieve stress and unwind after a long day. Consider any recipes you want to try and plan a time to put your baking skills to good use.

Reading a book before bedtime can act somewhat like a sedative, putting you to sleep faster. If all else fails, you can never go wrong with a good chick lit. Meditating can help eliminate the negative energy and empty our minds of anxiety, sadness and worries.

• When you start, it’s a good idea to work through your whole body.
• If none of these steps relieves your feelings of job stress or burnout, consult a mental health provider — either on your own or through an employee assistance program offered by your employer.
• If you’re not sure whether or not your anxiety falls within a “normal range,” try taking an online test.
• According to the American Institute of Stress, 94% of Americans reported experiencing stress in the workplace in 2019.

Her writing primarily focuses on workplace rights, job searching, diversity, and allyship, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in media and journalism from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Okay, seriously, there are tons and tons of benefits to journaling. Skip the surface-level scribbles about your crushes and get to the juicy stuff.

If I’m exhausted, I typically get under my weighted blanket and spend some time lying on my acupressure mat while listening to an audiobook. My mat helps to relieve any back pain and usually helps me to fall asleep almost immediately.

Editors Picks: The Best Ways To Destress After A Long Day At Work

Make sure that you are nourishing your body and your mind with healthy foods that provide both physical and mental benefits. There are countless benefits of meditation, including helping you focus on the present, increasing self-awareness, and promoting creativity. On top of that, they can seriously help you reduce your stress so that you can mentally clock out from work and enjoy your time at home. Changing your diet, sleep, and exercise habits may help set you on a path to a lifestyle where you’re in control of your stress in a way that’s healthy, effective, and manageable. Meditation can be extremely relaxing and can help you de-stress very quickly. Practicing this can be as simple as finding a quiet spot and breathing deeply with your eyes closed.

So long as you can quiet your internal turmoil, remove distractions, and focus, meditation is possible. You can use a meditation app like Headspace or just focus on a mantra, sound, or thought. By meditating, you can reduce your stress levels and increase mindfulness, boosting your productivity. The time you allocate to relaxing activities should be treated just as important as any other commitment. Without an outlet, stress can build up and contribute to the rapid decline of your physical and mental health.

Writing down your daily emotions, goals, and realizations can help you cope with stress, clarify your thoughts, and problem-solve more effectively —not to mention you’ll get to know yourself better. At Pragmatic Thinking we acknowledge First Nations people both here in Australia and around the world. If you need a bigger nudge in the right direction, pick yourself up a copy of this book, it’s filled with practical activities that’ll help you get back on track. The best bit is it also gives you an opportunity to visually see your progress as you tick items off when you’re back in the office on Monday. To set yourself up for a restful night, a great science-backed hack is to have a hot shower and then go to sleep in an air-conditioned room. A work-free staycation or trip a few hours out of town can still help you reset. Try to keep your high standards in check by focusing on the effort you put into a project and not personalizing failure when you make a mistake.

Meditation, deep breathing exercises, and mindfulness all work to calm your anxiety. Escape from reality by opening up a book after a long day at work. Not only can reading entertain you, but it can also reduce your stress levels and get your mind off any work-related tension. Reading may also provide other benefits, like improving your memory and increasing your attention span. Positive self-talk may help you feel more confident at work, which may lead to reduced stress levels and increased productivity.

You may become agitated, shaky, and stressed when the caffeine high has passed. Before you get confused, caffeine does help improve productivity and focus.

Heres 8 Simple Ways To Destress And Unwind After Work:

Some of my favourite desserts to make includes my delectable cinnamon buns with cream cheese frosting, my eternally fudgy brownies and my buttery banana cake that my family and friends go nuts for.” This weekend I will get started on Squid Game to see why this is the streaming platform’s most successful show to date.” I hate cardio, and my upper body strength is probably a sliver of Philippines’ Olympic gold weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz’s. Once, my F45 instructor had to remove the weights off my barbell because she took pity on me after seeing my struggle, but that’s a story for another time. “After a long day at work, my favourite way to unwind is by playing games on my Nintendo Switch. Still, there’s an honesty to working on something with your hands and music is a wonderful medium to do so—for me at least. My practices were more directed back when my band was jamming simply because there were songs to learn before rehearsal.

• Once, my F45 instructor had to remove the weights off my barbell because she took pity on me after seeing my struggle, but that’s a story for another time.
• Having an event or activity to look forward to can help you power through your week.
• Train yourself to do this, and over time you’ll find it easier to unwind.

If you reach home and still need to work, it’ll cause unnecessary stress. Once you leave, mentally let go of any work you may have penciled in for tomorrow as well.

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Find your inner foodie and select a new recipe for dinner or a baked good for dessert. Having an event or activity to look forward to can help you power through your week. It might sound like a little thing, but so much of society is built on the idea of incentives and rewards, so your brain is programmed to favor rewards, making the journey to the goal more bearable. As someone who tends to multitask, I have also learnt to love audiobooks, as it frees up my hands, allowing me to do other mindless tasks such as sewing and stretching.” For some reason, however, I find a lot of comfort in the clear state of mind that I slide into whilst I set my core on fire with kettlebell swings or turn my legs into noodles on the exercise bike. Skateboarding—cruising in particular—is a great paradigm shift from my mostly sedentary day hunched over my computer screen and also a great way for me to unwind mentally.” At InHerSight, we use data to help women find and improve companies where they can achieve their goals.

The problem is that this can magnify stress levels so that they are even higher after the commute home than they were at the end of the workday. If this sounds like you, now is the time to take the reigns and make your commute a time to shrug off the stress of the day. In the coming week, try to really notice your thoughts and habits as you drive home if you’re not already aware of them. Many of us take our jobs home with us without realizing it.

Knowing your stress factors can help you discover patterns in your life, which makes the problems easier to address. Instead, make sure you’re logging off consistently every couple hours, even if it’s just to walk around the block and take in some greenery. Research shows that people who live near green spaces have less depression and anxiety. So, if you have the opportunity to go outside for even a few minutes to “smell the roses,” do it. Learning something new can be a great way to destress at the end of the week and get refreshed and ready for the next work week. Learning something new challenges you in a new way and stimulates your brain, making it more active. You should try to learn something new every day if possible so that you can stay mentally stimulated and avoid becoming bored.

Once you’ve identified your stress triggers, consider each situation or event and look for ways to resolve it. Inviting friends over to your home can also douse tension. For example, if you are a fan of novels, then it’s best to get a new novel every week or as soon as you complete the one on hand. Very often, a lot of persons find it difficult to get off their office clothes when they get home and this retains their work persona and the stress that comes with it. If you can go a step further, remove work apps from your phone. This forces you to create a distinction between phone and computer . When we interviewed 500+ workers about their habits and working styles, 75% said they’d never had a conversation with their boss or colleagues about communication expectations and boundaries.

Try Meditation If Thats Your Thing

Find somewhere comfortable, dim the lighting and lose yourself in your favourite music. Try to empty your mind of everything else by just focusing on the sound.

Meditation can go from 10 minutes to an hour or more, so feel free to customize the practice ways to destress after work to your needs. It tends to become more helpful with time, so persistence is key.

Practice Self

Theacne appearancesas a result of stress is also your body’s way of telling you to chill out on the workload and relax a little. If none of these steps relieves your feelings of job stress or burnout, consult a mental health provider — either on your own or through an employee assistance program offered by your employer. Through counseling, you can learn effective ways to handle job stress. Finally, a walk outside is also a great way to calm your mind and body after a long day. But it can also help push you further into a state of relaxation. One study found that people who get more fresh air have less mental fatigue and even sleep better at night.

Tackle Your Stress Triggers

Completing challenging duties first also gives you more flexibility to handle other concerns that arise during the day. Now, you can follow personalized meditations on popular apps like Headspace and Inscape in your own time to practice mindfulness. If you can’t find a friend, or even co-worker once exiting the office, simply hug https://ecosoberhouse.com/ yourself. Our guide offers expert advice on how to better manage stress levels. Things will be clearer when you get to work again tomorrow. Rachel Goldman, PhD FTOS, is a licensed psychologist, clinical assistant professor, speaker, wellness expert specializing in eating behaviors, stress management, and health behavior change.

“Aromatherapy is known to be a relaxing therapy and is a great way to naturally relax your mind and body,” says Medlock. Options including pressing oil on your temples, inhaling it, or consuming in tea form. “Warm baths, especially with Epsom salt, are not only relaxing and therapeutic but can also improve mood,” says Tessa Medlock, CEO and founder of Pearl Bath Bombs over email with Bustle. Many people who are unable to leave work at work have sleep difficulties because they are replaying everything in their mind and their mind is not able to shut off enough to go to sleep. If worry about work is interfering with your relaxation or sleep time, considering doing a “brain dump,” or writing a to-do list or worry log as part of your bedtime or relaxation routine.