So, next time you’re feeling crummy (ha, ha) after work, pull out your mixing bowl and whip up something delicious. There are many reasons we do this, but there are more important reasons why we can and should learn to stop. Read on to gain a greater understanding of how smart people unwittingly magnify job stress, and how you can leave work at work as much as you possibly can. This can decrease your stress levels and increase your overall happiness.

That includes relaxing stories for better sleep, music, nature sounds, and white noise. Sleep Stories in the app has several tracks narrated by well-known celebrities. When I work long days, it’s hard to turn off the racing thoughts.

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For example, spending time by yourself taking a walk or reading a book gives you an opportunity to detach yourself from the stress of your work week and recharge. You should do something that you enjoy doing just by yourself, whether it is listening to music, hiking, or painting. Go out on a walk alone in nature if possible so you can get even more benefits. There are many benefits to spending time with friends or family members.

Listening to an interesting podcast in between meetings or watching a funny Youtube video can give you relaxing pauses throughout the day. Experiencing work strain is unavoidable — even if you love what you do — but there are steps you can take to keep job stress to a minimum. Feeling some tension is normal, especially if you’re facing a looming deadline or challenging assignment. But when Ways to Destress After Work work stress becomes chronic, it can end up affecting both your physical and emotional well-being. Now that you’ve got some practical tips up your sleeve it’s time to put what you’ve learnt into action. According to Dr J. Kip Matthews, a sports and exercise psychologist, regular exercise allows your body to streamline communication between the systems involved in the stress response.

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Keep some happy hours, but make the majority a workout class or session. Yet, healthy foods can make us feel less stressed and happier, especially those with serotonin and magnesium. Eat salmon, beans, ancient grains, leafy greens and even dark chocolate, for great benefits.

If your week has left you feeling overwhelmed and run down, give yourself the gift of a good night’s sleep. Switching up your routine can help you step out of work mode and into relaxation. So, instead of eating dinner at the table why not pack it up and head down to the local park or your backyard? Give someone a call who leaves you feeling uplifted to kick start a state of relaxation. While taking a deep breath is the oldest trick in the book, you can enhance the calming effect of this simple tip with some basic body mechanics.

ways to destress after a long work week

Here are five ways to make recovery work for you based on industry- and research-based insights. AI assistants like Alexa are great for maintaining sleep schedules. You can create routines with Alexa and schedule certain actions. For example, while creating a sleep routine, you can tell Alexa to switch off the television and dim the lights after a specified time. Coupled with an audio reminder, this can prompt you to limit exposure to electronic devices for an hour or two before sleep. Thus, journaling apps and mood trackers are the right tools to track and monitor your wellness.

Feeling overwhelmed at work is a perfectly valid reason to reach out for additional help and support. Set up a quiet time to talk with them and calmly discuss feeling overwhelmed by challenging tasks. Approach the conversation from a place of problem solving, rather than listing out complaints.

How to Use Meditation for Better Sleep

Set a playlist with your favorite, relaxing tunes and hit play for the entirety of your commute. Once you reach home, you’ll be in a more positive and happy state. After a full day’s work, coming home should be relaxing and give you time to recoup before the next day. Unfortunately, for many people, the stress from work does not miraculously disappear at the end of the day. It is not uncommon for the hustle and bustle of careers and the intrusiveness of technology to blur the line of the work-life balance.

• Most men go flat-out on their job only to have no energy left when they come home.
• Bubbles or no bubbles- taking a relaxing bath is another way to take time out for yourself and release the day’s tension into the water and out of your body.
• This is also applies to those of you who work from home (which is many of us right now).
• To change your stress levels, change the mood of your environment.
• Other great tips include, use more soothing colours, incorporate as much light as possible and buy some plants!
• Using night lamps or playing white noise can also help you develop stronger sleep habits.

Listening to music can have a tremendously relaxing effect on our minds and bodies. To overcome this paradox, you must learn what works best for you and devise a recovery plan. It’s important to note that what actually works for stress recovery is not always as intuitive as you think.

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Finally, one of the most fun and effective ways to leave job stress on the job is to really focus on making the rest of your life while taking your mind off of stress of your work life. This means creating enough balance in your life to include leisure time and hobbies. “I may not be rah-rah about it ahead of time, but there has never been a gym session I’ve regretted afterwards,” proclaimed a senior executive of a multinational health care company.

Try these apps and devices to reduce stress and enjoy your personal time. When you’re stressed, your neck and shoulders tense up as part of your body’s fight-or-flight response. It only takes a few minutes but completely resets your system, rids you of all stress, and makes you feel like a newborn baby. It’s also dead simple, which is why it’s my go-to tool after a rough day.

Make sure to include the people, places, and events that gave you a physical, mental, or emotional response. 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. This might sound overly simple, but it’s easy to underestimate how much stress effects you. Take note if you find yourself emotionally exhausted and pessimistic by the end of the day. Ever noticed how certain smells can make you feel certain things?

If you’re feeling stressed, stuck, or frustrated, consider taking a break from work and working your body instead. Getting your body moving will not only help you destress in the moment but will boost your energy throughout the rest of the day. Whether it’s a quick yoga flow or 45 minutes of HIIT, a mood-boosting workout should be your go-to energizer on days where you’re feeling drained or stressed (forget coffee). Studies have found that writing helps people manage their negative emotions in a productive way, and painting or drawing helps people express trauma or experiences that they find too difficult to put in to words. A study published in the Journal of the American Art Therapy Association showed that just 45 minutes of art-making decreased cortisol (the main stress hormone) levels in the study participants.

Also, taking longer breaks in combination with more frequent short breaks can provide more energy, motivation, and concentration than infrequent short breaks. Interestingly, micro-breaks taken earlier in the workday contribute to greater recovery. Research shows that when our bodies and minds need to recover and reset the most (i.e., when we’re most depleted), we’re the least likely — and able — to do something about it. For example, when work is demanding and we’re feeling overwhelmed, we quickly slide into a negative cycle of working longer hours and taking fewer breaks. During those stressful times, we also tend to eat less healthily, even though adequate nutrition and hydration are important to replenishing energy levels. Further depleted, we have less energy and motivation to take time out to relax or engage in exercise, leading to low recovery and in turn further exhaustion the next day.

Of course always check with your doctor before doing any kind of exercise or stretching program. When you work from home, it’s easy to let work take up all of your time. Remind yourself that work is only a part of your life, not your entire life, https://ecosoberhouse.com/article/how-to-taper-off-alcohol/ by stopping yourself from checking email, Slack, or missed calls, first thing in the morning. Even a harmless scroll to see what you’ve missed while you were sleeping means you’re going from 0 to 100 right away (no wonder you’re stressed!).