How To Relax After Work - The 5 Most Effective Tips!

Enjoy Your Free Time With The Best Ways To Relax After Work

So you've crossed off all the tasks on your work checklist. Everything's done - you're ready to relax!

You stretch your arms, shut your eyes, and think of all the ways you're going to spend your free time.

But instead of cooling off and feeling restful, you just find yourself tense and antsy.

If this has happened to you, don't stress! A lot of us don't really know how to relax after a stressful day at work. Even when we're all worn out, we often find it's tricky to turn our work brains off.

Shaking off all the stress and worries of the day can be hard, but not impossible! To help you loosen up and de-stress, we've rounded up 5 smart tips on how to relax after work.

Remember that relaxation is vital to a great and healthy lifestyle. Keep reading to learn how to wind down and get some much-deserved R&R!

Create a dedicated work space

Whether you work from home or go to an office, odds are you'll have tasks to work on at home.

Yes, it's fun to work in our jammies! But the typical drawback is that it becomes harder to separate our personal lives from our work lives. This is because our state of mind relies on our environment.

Let's say you spend the day working on your couch. Since it's a place for relaxing, your mind may work at a slower pace. So you might find it difficult to concentrate on your tasks.

Later at night, your family goes to the living room to bond and play a board game. Now that you've spent the day working on the couch, you may find stress about work still running through your head.

This can have a negative impact on your performance, family time, and emotional health!

What you can do to prevent this is to create a work space at home where you will spend all your work hours. This entails designing and organizing it to let you work with more efficiency and motivation! You can even place in indoor plants to freshen and liven up your desk.

Don't worry if you don't have a lot of space - you don't need a big home office! All you need is a compact working area with a desk, your laptop or PC, pens and paper, and other work needs.

Put your phone down

Many of us relax by mindlessly scrolling through social media. We get it. It does turn your brain off!

But with the endless alerts, consistent barrage of bad news, and innumerable toxic discussions - it can be a huge stressor!

What you can do to minimize your phone time is to install useful apps that monitor and restrict your time online (ironic, right?). Here are a few apps to help you curb your phone time to a healthy amount:

Moment - This app lets you set daily limits for your phone use. When you exceed your limit, it floods your phone with annoying alerts until you put your phone down. Even better, you can set it up for the whole family!

SPACE - Want a more fun way to reduce your phone time? SPACE offers a personalized program that lets you set unique goals for your phone usage. When you reach your goals, you get to create an incredible galaxy of stars on the app!

OffTime - Our phones aren't just for games or recreation. We also need it for work or talking to loved ones. OffTime lets you stay on the apps that you need at specific times and keeps you away from distracting ones.

Try relaxing hobbies

Did you know that not all stress is negative? Also referred to as "eustress", good stress comes from doing activities that make us feel motivated, inspired, and lively. It even helps relieve bad stress!

Whether you get "good stress" from work or not, it's always good to pick up hobbies that are different from your work. This keeps you well-rounded and open to new things!

Plus, it takes off the stress of doing something perfectly. You get to do things simply because you like and enjoy them!

Devoting time for your hobbies can enhance your mood and pleasure. Here are a few of the best stress-busting activities you might want to try:

Gardening - Keeping a beautiful garden is a scientifically proven stress reliever! It boosts your physical and mental health by pushing you to get moving and be one with nature.

DIY - It's good to learn how to upcycle old things, make simple items from scratch, and do small repairs. Not only does it feel fulfilling, but it also gets your hands working and even saves money!

Arts & Crafts - You're never too old to discover your creative side! Drawing, coloring, painting, and doing crafts can be very calming and cathartic, especially if you've had a taxing day.

Cooking/ Baking - Dump the microwave meals and uncover a new passion for making food! It's a proven stress reliever that's actually used for behavioral therapy. Most importantly, it encourages healthier eating!

Camping - The beauty of nature can melt all your worries away and rejuvenate your body and mind! You can also try other outdoor activities like hiking and fishing or even camp out at home.

Be in the moment

We hear this constantly - but just what does it mean?

Being in the moment is about living our lives in the present. It means we set our thoughts, feelings, and actions towards what's happening now.

If you find it hard to relax after work, that's likely because you spend emotional and mental energy on past or future worries. It may be that your mind is filled with worries, anxieties, and fears.

What happens is that you miss out on relaxing and enjoying your free time to the fullest!

It's true that being in the moment is easier said than done. But below are a few basic things you can do to be more present:

Create a routine - Having a day-to-day schedule helps keep you on track for the day! So once you get to your down time, you know for sure that you've finished all you can within your work hours and tell yourself that it's time to relax.

Write in a journal - Writing about how you felt through the day helps you release stress. Even better, it makes you more aware of your stressors!

Practice meditation -Trust us, this works! Meditation soothes you and rids your mind of harmful thoughts and emotions. Now it may take a while to get into, but you can start with a few easy meditation exercises!

Start meaningful talks - It's always a load off the mind to connect to the ones closest to our hearts. Whether it's light chats or deep dialogues, ensure that you give them 100% of your attention.

Treat yourself

Often, the simplest way is the best way to go! Doing your favorite things is the easiest way to relax and decompress.

So go on, spoil yourself! Take a long bath. Delight in your favorite dessert. Surround yourself with calming blooms. Pop your earphones in and jam to your favorite songs.

Belt out karaoke with your friends or family. Read a good book. Play your favorite games. Cuddle with your kids or your pets.

Whatever you love doing, go on and do it! The important thing is to reward yourself for working hard and doing your best through the day.