How to unwind after work: 13 tips to relax and de-stress

Take a deep breath, leave the stresses of the workday behind, and discover how to decompress, release tension, and reset your mind in a way that works best for you. From minor challenges to major crises, stress is part of life. And while you can’t always control your circumstances, you can control how you respond to them.

Practice Yoga

• Another surprising stressor at work is physical discomfort, often related to where you perform most of your daily tasks (such as your desk).
• Physical activity is key to managing stress and improving mental health.
• It covers a range of mental health needs such as depression, anxiety & stress, parenting, trauma & grief, substance abuse, LGBTQIA+ specific topics, eating disorders & more.

Basically, by activating your senses, you shift your attention away from the pressures and demands of your job to, say, how warm water feels on your face or how the wind hits your skin. “It tells your brain on a subconscious level that you are done with work,” Dallas says. So, if you’ve been lurking around the above subreddits desperately in search of tips to salvage your evening (just me?), you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find six expert-approved ways to snap out of work mode so you can (god forbid) enjoy your life. It can involve mentally going over what you’re looking forward to in the rest of your evening, or texting a loved one and refocusing your attention to your life. If all of this is sounding a little too familiar, don’t let it stress you.

How to De-Stress After Work: 11 Tips to Unwind

• Creativity-focused activities like these allow our brains release dopamine, which is a natural antidepressant.
• Bring awareness to the present moment, ease your mind, and promote relaxation.
• Stress affects everyone differently, and what is a stressor for one person may not be for another.
• In the coming week, try to really notice your thoughts and habits as you drive home if you’re not already aware of them.
• According to the American Institute of Stress, job pressure and money are the top causes of stress in America, with 61 percent of people reporting that work is their main source of stress.
• Stress relievers can help bring back calm and peace to your busy life.

Unwinding after work isn’t just a luxury—it’s a necessity for maintaining mental and emotional balance in our lives. The demands of work can often leave us feeling stressed, overwhelmed, and mentally fatigued, impacting our ability to relax and recharge effectively. Research has shown that chronic stress and overwork can increase the risk of burnout, anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders.

Enjoy quality time with loved ones

Besides removing clutter and giving you relief from a crowded space, cleaning is an effective mindfulness practice. One study found that students who washed dishes had greater states of mindfulness and positive moods. Yoga isn’t only a popular exercise for all ages, but it’s also gaining traction for decreasing stress, anxiety, and depression. According to research, yoga interrupts stress by producing an effect that’s opposite to your flight-or-fight response.

Obtain Social Support

Diaphragmatic breathing (or “belly breathing”) involves actively breathing into your diaphragm or abdomen, as opposed to the chest. When you’ve survived a stressful day, getting enough good-quality sleep (particularly rapid-eye-movement sleep) can be an important recovery strategy how to destress after work (Suchecki, Tiba, & Machado, 2012). Chronic sleep deprivation can disrupt our stress response system and reduce our ability to deal with stressors (Suchecki et al., 2012). When this happens, nonessential activities like digestion are put on standby (Schneiderman et al., 2005).

• All are nasty sources of stress that vary in how long they last and how much they affect your day-to-day life.
• Although this is rare, if you have emotional discomfort during relaxation techniques, stop what you’re doing.
• Fortunately, there are tips and tricks that can help you get your cortisol levels down.

Combine meditation for stress with deep breathing exercises to further reduce stress hormone levels. Just like exercise, finding the right mental health exercises and relaxation activities can take a few tries. We’re all different, and enjoy different experiences, so give a few of these a go the next time you’re feeling stressed. Also, remember that some people, especially those with serious mental health issues and a history of abuse or trauma, may have feelings of emotional discomfort during some relaxation techniques.

It can involve imagining yourself being in your “happy place”—maybe picturing yourself sitting on a beach, listening to the waves, smelling the ocean, and feeling the warm sand underneath you. Treat this method of writing it out as a way of taking notes without derailing your whole workday. Keep these notes on https://ecosoberhouse.com/ 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. One way of escaping that spiral is to anchor yourself to the present and focus on immediate results you can achieve.

• In fact, the stress level in this country is 20 percentage points higher than the global average.
• Chronic stress can increase your risk for other mental health concerns, such as depression and anxiety.