Whether you go into an office, work in a warehouse, or do a hands-on job like teaching, chances are you come home with some stress from work. It may not be every day, but there are those days when the demands of your job build up to a boiling point. No matter what your days look like, stress is there and you may need some tips to unwind after work.
Work stress can have a significant impact on your job performance. Almost 70% of workers said that stress caused difficulties in their work, and around 10% said it has major effects. Beyond affecting your work, job stress comes home with you and can affect your mood, sleep, and relationships. While it’s important to have pride in your work and do your best at your job, you don’t want job stress to take over your life.
Whether you’re experiencing constant or sporadic stress from your work, it’s important to find ways to de-stress from your work day. There are a few ways you can bring down that anxiety. Try a few of these suggestions to find what works best for you and your lifestyle.
Listen to something calming
Music, ambient noise, or a podcast are all great examples of soothing things to listen to so you can destress. If you have a commute from work, this can be a great time to calm your work anxieties by listening to something calming, transitioning your brain from work to home.
If you don’t have a physical commute, you can still take time between when you finish work and when you go about your household tasks. Try stepping outside or going to a quiet room for 10-15 minutes to help bring your mind down with your favorite sounds.
Read or write to purge your mind
Another great way to calm your brain is to read or write. Reading a book, an article, or a poem can help you shut off your work thoughts and focus on what you’re reading. Writing can also help purge your work worries. Getting your thoughts down on paper (or electronically) can help you leave them behind, allowing you to focus on more relaxing thoughts for your evening.
Meditate (or just take deep breaths!)
Meditation is a highly effective way to de-stress your mind. There are dozens, perhaps hundreds, of guided meditation tapes and podcasts to help ease your mind.
If you’re intimidated by meditation’s structure or time commitment, you can always just take deep breaths to calm your mind.
Breathing in for a count of four to ten and breathing out at the same interval can help regulate your heart rate. This simple act can have a significant effect on your daily stress levels.
Exercise
For some people, exercise is a great de-stressor. Getting your heart rate up and your blood pumping may seem like it would exacerbate stress, but the deep breaths required and endorphins produced make exercise an excellent calming activity.
While cardiovascular activities like running and biking help increase your heart rate, stretching exercises like yoga are also helpful. Yoga helps regulate your breathing and has the added benefit of stretching out your scrunched-up or overworked body from a hard day’s work.
Try supplements
There are many different supplements you can try as scents, flavors, or oils to help relax your mind and body. Herbs like chamomile, lavender, and jasmine are great to enjoy as teas or diffused as oils to help you relax. Another common supplement is CBD, the calming cannabinoid of cannabis. You can enjoy CBD in gummies and other edible forms, in vapes or hemp flower and in a topical oil.
Two lesser-known supplements are kratom and black seed oil. Kratom is a substance derived from a tropical and indigenous evergreen tree in the coffee family native to Southeast Asia. You can find kratom for sale as a powder and can be used in powder, liquid, and extract forms.
Black seed oil is an oil pressed from the seeds of a flowering shrub native to Eastern Europe and Western Asia. This oil can be used to calm inflammation and improve circulation, both of which can help you ease your body and mind.
Find the Right Calming Activity for You
Each of these methods are effective in its own right, but you can also combine calming activities to create the right environment for you. Try enjoying music while exercising, or use supplements to calm yourself while you read or write. Whatever works best for you is the right activity to help you de-stress and transition daily from work to play.
