Are you feeling burned out at work? You’re definitely not alone. Research from the American Psychological Association finds that 79% of U.S. workers feel work-related stress, 32% are emotionally exhausted and 44% are physically fatigued. One thing that helps combat this is time off and time spent not thinking about work, but that’s not that easy for some folks to achieve.
If you can’t stop thinking about your work to-do list or your inbox after work, here’s what experts recommend to help you hit the off switch and shift your brain into “leisure mode.”
- Say “goodbye” to the workday - Performance coach Keegan LaMar says transitioning from work mode involves something he calls “shaking hands with the work day.” When you log off your work computer and turn everything off for the day, think of it like a handshake to say “good doing business with you today.” Then challenge yourself to leave those devices powered down until the next morning.
- Find your wind-down song - Use music to signal what kind of energy you want to get into, like an athlete uses a pump-up song to walk onto the field. Organizational consultant Lia Garvey suggests finding a song that helps clear your head or brings you out of your work mindset and playing it during your commute home, so once you hear the song, you’re done with work - no going back to check one more email.
- File it away - Imagine a file cabinet and think of all the things you need to do at work tomorrow and then mentally file them away, suggests life coach Karen Tom. Then, imagine closing the drawer and opening it up the next day at work.
- Change your clothes - As soon as you walk in the door, take off your work clothes and put on something comfy you can relax in. Even if you work from home, changing can signal to your brain that you’ve wrapped up work for the day, Garvey explains.
- Curb the work talk - “When you’re done working, don’t talk about work,” LaMar recommends. Put your attention and energy into something else when you’re in leisure mode.
- Create a fake commute - If you work from home, pretend you don’t. Come up with a routine that signifies the end of your workday, like taking a walk around the block or going outside for 10 minutes, to give you the sense of leaving your workspace and coming into your home space.
Source: Huff Post
Photo: Getty Images