7 Ways to Wind Down After Work

Whether you work from home or in an office, everybody needs a work/life balance to stay healthy, happy, and productive. If you’re the type of person who repeatedly checks your emails even when the work day is over, you might want to consider prioritizing your own wellbeing — and unplugging. Otherwise, you could end up harming your mental health and potentially experiencing burnout.

Here are seven ways to unwind after work and finally get out of work mode at the end of the day.

#1: Deactivate Your Social Media Notifications and Email Alerts

An often overlooked stressor is all those alerts and notifications that keep popping up on your phone. After a long day, it’s important to find time to switch off and step away from disturbances like social media notifications, work email notifications, work app alerts etc. Set boundaries so that your work doesn’t seep into your personal life. After all, everybody deserves time to themselves to focus on self-care and switch off from work life.

By temporarily deactivating your notifications when you’re not at the office, you get the opportunity to focus on yourself — and that’s a fantastic way to lower your stress levels.

#2: De-Clutter

WFH? Before finishing for the night, always make sure you tidy away everything you use so that your office looks nice and tidy for the next day. Clutter is a major stressor. Simply seeing clutter in your home is enough to hike up your stress levels, which is why tidying up is a great place to start when it comes to unwinding after work.

On top of that, tidying up your laptop and other work things will help to create a boundary between your work life and your home life. It’ll thus reduce the temptation to work and allow you to enjoy your free time after a hard day. Aim to do this every day at the end of hours so that you can truly enjoy your time off.

#3: Give Yourself a Facial

Skincare is a wonderful form of self-care that can help you de-stress after a stressful day. You don’t need to splurge on a professional facial when you can create a spa experience right from your own home. Slather on a face mask, take a bubble bath while you let the mask work its wonders, and then after rinsing it off, give yourself a facial massage using a facial oil, serum, or moisturizer. This will relieve all that tension and promote relaxation for a restful night’s sleep.

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#4: Listen to a Podcast

Are you someone who obsesses over every little detail? Even when it’s out of hours, you can’t help but reflect on the day, plan for the next day, and complete those little tasks that pop up on your work app. If this sounds like you, try plugging into your favorite podcast after work to de-stress and avoid distractions. If you’re not into podcasts yet, ask a friend or look online for inspiration. You’ll eventually find one you love.

And if podcasts really aren’t for you, you can always listen to your favorite playlist after a long day at work. Do whatever helps you step away from work and simply let go!

#5: Do Some Deep Breathing Exercises

One of the best techniques in stress management is deep breathing. If you feel like the stress is building up and you can’t seem to relax after work, try performing a few deep breathing exercises to quickly calm the mind. Start by breathing in through the nose, hold for a few seconds, then take a long deep breath out through the mouth. Continue until you feel yourself start to relax. It shouldn’t take long!

The great thing about deep breathing exercises is that you can do them anywhere — on the bus, in the bath, while waiting in line, or in your bed.

#6: Enjoy a Stroll in the Fresh Air

Especially if you’re working from home, you need to find that physical distance to help you switch off from work. Going out for a walk is a great way to clear up your headspace and enable you to get that distance between your work and your home life.

Try going for a long walk once in the morning before working hours and then again in the evening after your working day. It’ll feel like a commute to and from work, only you’ll be getting the added benefits of physical exercise which is great for your mental wellbeing.

#7: Create a To-Do List for the Next Day

Creating a to-do list might not sound like the best way to relax after work, but it can be effective — for some people, at least. By writing down everything you need to do the next day, you free your mind of work-related thoughts and stresses. You can simply write it all down and separate yourself from it until the next day when those tasks need to be done.

It might not work for everyone, but if you’re someone who can’t switch off from work and all the tasks needed to be done, creating a to-do list can help relieve you of that stress.

As you can see, there are many different ways to relax after work. No matter who you are or what you do, everyone needs that downtime after work in order to stay healthy, happy, and productive. From de-cluttering to facials and to-do lists, there are plenty of ways you can unwind after work and freshen up your brain and motivation for the next day.

How do you wind down after work?