I get it, we often get stressed and exhausted after work with no energy to live our personal life. But I have got you covered, in this post, I am sharing 5 steps to relax after a hard day of work, these are not just things to do but the steps that you can use to build a routine to unwind and destress after work that will be sustainable for you.
I was in the same place as you stressed and tired after work finding it difficult to relax, unwind and get out of work mode. But after some research and careful observations, I found a perfect approach to destress and wind down after a busy, stressful day.
We all want a perfect work-life balance but most of our time
is spent at work and after work, at the end of the day we are often tired,
drained, and emotionally carried away by the way our day is spent at work, this
does not allow us to enjoy the personal time or spend quality time with our
loved ones.
Why is relaxing and unwinding important?
I feel a critical step to achieving a perfect work-life
balance is to have a system that will help you relax and unwind at the end of
the day so that you can enjoy your life, spend some quality time, and get
rejuvenated for the next day to be more productive and better at work.
To help you relax after a hard day of work, you just don’t
need the typical advice of meditating, having a cup of tea, or going for a
walk. I mean you know best what to do with your time, but the issue at hand is
how to destress and wind down. You can be doing these activities with your mind
running with 100 thoughts of work.
So, the solution that I needed was how to get my mind off work and spend the little time I have at hand more intentionally, as I said after some research and observation I came up with this system and it works perfectly well for me and I am sure it will work for you too.
Step 1: End work the right way
The essential to unwind after work is to wind up your work
rightly, done the right way and on time is the best foot set on the path of
relaxing after a busy day.
- End
your work at a fixed time. I understand occasionally staying up late for
important work but it should not be your habit to stay late. Work
expands to fill up the available time, so the more time you give
it, the more it takes. Be productive at work and make the most of your
time.
- Before
you end your work make sure you plan things to be done the next day and
review the work done on the day. This gives your mind clarity, helps to
not get stressed about the work that needs to be done, and makes you feel
good about the task accomplished on the day.
I find these very helpful as often after work I would find
myself with thoughts about the work to be done. But when you have a schedule
for the next day, these thoughts reduce, and at times when they come to your
mind you know the answer to shut them down.
Step 2. The transition from work to personal life
We spend around 8-9 hours at work and suddenly at the end of
the day we expect the mind to stop thinking of work, well that’s pretty
unreasonable, your mind will take time to leave the momentum. So rather than
blaming your mind for thinking about work, you should help it transition from
work to personal life.
Transitioning is simply telling yourself “The day at work
has ended and now is the time for you to relax and enjoy the rest of the day”.
This can be done by mindfully thinking of the same while:
- Driving
back home
- Changing
to comfortable clothes when you get back home
- Sipping tea at the end of the day, etc.
Step 3. Cut off negative work thoughts
I am sure you have been here as I have been. At the end of
the work when you want to spend quality time with your loved ones or just enjoy
some time with yourself, you keep getting all the thoughts about work in your
head; the pending work, the rude comments, the nasty emails. So even though you
are in your personal life, the work-life keeps haunting you.
You don’t even realize when you get drifted with the
thoughts. You often try to tell your mind “stop thinking about work”, well the
better way is to acknowledge the thought you get and try to understand.
If the thought is about a pending task remind yourself of
the schedule you have to take care of it. If it’s an irrational thought or a
carryover of the way your day was spent, explain to yourself thinking about it
is not worth your time and distract yourself with pleasant activities to uplift
your mood.
Step 4. Create the right environment
Creating the right environment to relax and unwind after a
busy day is a very small but significant act. You may create a happy corner at
your home, that is comfortable, crafted to your liking, and has things that
inspire you and makes you feel relaxed. It will instantly lift your mood and
make you feel calm.
A calm environment can also be created by dim lights or
candles, essential oils, and soft music. As per studies, soft light reduces the
excessive stimuli to our brain helping it to calm down and also induces melatonin,
a hormone required for sleep, ensuring you get good sleep. Soft music is
effective in reducing stress.
Step 5. Express Gratitude
Gratitude makes you feel positive and content. Often, at the
end of the day when you feel spent and realize how little time you have to
spend on yourself, you feel more stressed and complain. Being grateful causes a
major shift in mindset, you feel more thankful and privileged for the things
you have, and a sense of gratitude not only relaxes you but also gives a
positivity and zeal to do more work in the coming day. The positivity gratitude
brings is infectious.
So, spend some minutes journaling gratitude or expressing
the same to your loved ones. It is a perfect way to wind down your day and feel
relaxed.
Conclusion
I hope these steps will help you to relax after a work days and hopefully by knowing these steps, you will have systematic routine and have a good work life.
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