Author: Charles Frank

6 Ways to Shake Off the Workday So It Doesnt Ruin Your Precious Evening

However, the act of stepping away for a few minutes to make tea can be therapeutic. Studies show that 1 gram of apple cider vinegar may take over 95 minutes to work its magic, while matcha may take up to an hour to work. If you have gum on hand, particularly scented gum, chew it for at least three minutes. One study of 101 adults found that people who chewed gum during work had a lower stress response. If you’re noticing a bigger pattern, you might want to take a longer breather with our 30-minute tips or speak to a professional to get to the root of the problem. But when the stress boilover happens during work, at a party, or in public, dropping everything to take a nap is definitely not a good look.

Take ten minutes to practice deep breathing, mindfulness, or meditation without any digital distractions. This time can significantly help clear your mind and reduce stress. If you haven’t meditated before, try starting with some guided options from the apps, but then move to doing it without technology support. Mindfulness can be employed anywhere at any time, so it’s a valuable skill in learning to destress. As you learn relaxation techniques, you can become more aware of muscle tension and other physical ways your body reacts to stress. Once you know what the stress response feels like, you can try to do a relaxation technique as soon as you start to feel stress symptoms.

Offline Activities to Help You Unwind

Unwinding allows your body and mind to shed the stress accumulated during the day, which is vital for long-term health. Stress, if left unchecked, can lead to a myriad of physical and mental health issues. According to the Mayo Clinic, chronic stress contributes to anxiety, depression, fatigue, weight gain, memory loss, and more.

Try 4-7-8 breathing

Spending quality time with the people you care for lets you connect, process emotions, and gain new perspectives. This certainly does the trick for me—before I can get into a TV show or book after my workday, I need to lie down and decompress (i.e. not talk to anyone) for 20 minutes or so. I have a much easier time shifting gears when I’m able to shut myself off from the world for a bit. Remember, chronic stress not only affects your mental health, but it can also contribute to a host of health issues. As with any skill, your ability to relax improves with practice.

Enjoy Your Commute Home

If you’re like most people, your life may be filled with too many demands and too little time. And it can be easy to procrastinate, which can cause chronic stress. Stop to smell the roses, peep at the autumn leaves or watch a gaggle of geese swim around — the idea is to take a moment to appreciate your surroundings.

About Mayo Clinic

Shutting off work is often challenging, but with the right tools and mindset, you can cultivate a fulfilling and restorative evening ritual. Have your favorite streaming services, Spotify, or audiobook platforms pinned in your personal Workspace so you can click out of your work mindset and into your relaxing mindset immediately. Keep your journal app or meditation content accessible, allowing for a smooth transition from work to relax and unwind mode.

1. The same report found that a whopping 94% of workers say they feel stressed at work.
2. Taking even a few minutes of personal time during a busy day can help prevent burnout caused by chronic work stress.
3. But when the stress boilover happens during work, at a party, or in public, dropping everything to take a nap is definitely not a good look.
4. If all of this is sounding a little too familiar, don’t let it stress you.
5. While keeping feelings bottled up isn’t an optimal answer, when we spend what could be quality time with loved ones focused on all the stresses of the day, we lose more of our day to job stress.

Treat this method of writing it out as a way of taking notes without derailing your whole workday. Keep these notes on hand to check for patterns to see if there’s a deeper reason behind your stress. Sometimes stress can cause your mind to spiral and lead you down an unnecessary rabbit hole of negative thoughts.

Tie Up Loose Ends Before You Leave

Deep and mindful breathing can activate your body’s relaxation response, helping lower stress levels, reduce blood pressure, and promote a sense of calm. It can be easy to avoid others when you’re feeling stressed and not in a great mood. But spending time with or talking to your family and friends can help reduce your stress and get you out of your funk. Relaxation techniques are a great way to help with stress management.

Keep in touch with trusted friends and family to help cope with stressful work situations. When you’ve experienced worry and chronic stress for an extended period, your mind may tend to jump to conclusions and read into every situation with a negative lens. Sometimes, feeling overwhelmed by work comes down to how organized you are. Identifying and recording stressful situations can help you understand what’s bothering you. Some of these can be subtle sources of tension, such as an uncomfortable workspace, chatter in the back, or a long commute. Here are eleven proven, effective ways to unwind and decompress after work, so you can leave the stress behind.

Developing good habits that support work-life balance is key to making sustainable progress that lasts. If these strategies aren’t giving you tools to cope, try seeking help from a professional. If you don’t have time to clean thoroughly, take this opportunity to organize items or tackle one cleaning task at a time.

And spending lots of time on social media seeing “perfect” lives of others can negatively affect your body image. Learn to set healthy boundaries and focus on your work-life balance. If you find yourself too stressed to sleep, consider developing a new pre-bedtime routine, including a long bath or a cup of caffeine-free herbal tea.

Clearly, the less time we can spend complaining about work, the more time we’ll have focused on things that make us happy. This week, try to notice how much time you spend complaining about work and see if this is the right amount of time for you. Engaging in fun activities with loved ones can provide a much-needed break from work-related worries while strengthening social bonds.