How to clock off and wind down from work
It’s all too easy to bring work stress home with laptops and phones, but you’re not doing yourself, your employer or family any favours in the long term as this can put you at risk of burnout or even relationship breakdown. Yes, it’s ok to think about work at home and we often have some of our best ideas when in the shower or when doing jobs around the home but answering emails and taking phone calls are a real physical intrusion to your home life. At home, focusing on partners, friends, kids, hobbies, pets and other life goals needs to be prioritised and connected with for a true sense of life balance and satisfaction.
Why winding down works
Whether it’s changing your email habits or having a bath, a wind down routine can help you glide from work mode to home mode more successfully. This intentional act sets a boundary, increases your feelings of control, and reduces sudden stressful moments that occur when you land at home suddenly and unprepared.
If you work from home and no longer commute, this transition can be harder with no physical space or time in which to wind down and so it is more important to have a process in place that gives you wind down time. This should be discussed with anyone else in the home space so they are aware of what’s happening and can alter their expectations.
Here’s how to wind down and stop your job taking over your life:
Clear out the work mental clutter
In the afternoon, make sure any urgent unfinished jobs that can be realistically done are done, otherwise it is these unfinished pieces of work that will niggle at you all way at home.
In the last half hour of the day do a brain dump by writing a priority to-do list for the next day (which may include that job that couldn’t be completed today). Tidy your workspace and pack away your tech. This begins the wind down process and over time will become a helpful trigger to changing modes.
Create a buffer zone
Give yourself some time and space to signal to your brain that it’s time to switch modes and go down a gear. If you commute, listening to your favourite music or podcast series, reading on public transport, or diverting to run an errand, can provide that space. If you work at home, a little more creativity is needed. Take yourself to a quieter area of your home or go outside and spend 10-15 minutes entering a different mind zone. You could try:
Going for a walk or engaging in other exercise or a hobby
Having a shower or bath to wash off work and change your clothes
Doing some gentle stretching and relaxed breathing or even some yoga or mindfulness exercises – this can really settle and calm the mind and body
These options are also something the commuter can add to their wind-down process on arriving home. When re-entering the home space, pause at the door and appreciate the significance of entering a space with the different roles, activities and relationships. Value being with people who care about you and whom you care about. As you shut the door, imagine shutting the door on your workday.
Ditch the tech
Don’t look at emails on your phone and turn off other work-related notifications. Turn on ‘do not disturb’ or night shift settings or leave your phone on a shelf in another room. If you have to check in with work on a weekend, plan particular times to look such as 11am or 3pm. This gives you choice instead of being pushed into work issues. Learn to have a peace of mind that you don’t have to respond to everything instantly. If it’s urgent they will call; if it’s not, then it can wait.
Be present at home
If wind down doesn’t happen, your mind can still be whirring about all the things still to do or that didn’t get done. Practising being present can help you break out of this unhelpful and unproductive state of mind into more connection with those at home. Focus all your senses on whatever is happening, whether that’s smelling the cooking, tasting dinner or helping the kids do homework. Putting your full attention on others and asking questions to hear about their day, actively listening to them using eyes as well as ears, will build engagement and help them feel valued. When you are always distracted with work, it shows, and others can quickly become fed up, thinking you don’t care.
Redefine your limits and value life outside work
Accept that it is impossible to get everything done at work; there will always be one more thing you could get on with, but work needs to have an end point. The type of work you do may make it difficult to mentally detach yourself after hours, but if this is the case, finding a way to do this is even more important.
Gradually redefine your limits in terms of understanding what you need in order to have a mental break. Separating your working life and your leisure time is essential for better psychological, mental and physical health. For Germans, it is the idea of Feierabend or “calling it a day” that upholds the evening as almost sacrosanct. For Danes it’s Hygge whereby creating a cozy and comfortable home space is important to overall well-being, and for the Japanese, Ikigai refers to life purpose and value and is achieved by spending time and effort enjoying what you value most.
Do not feel guilty about clocking off. Leisure time and hobbies are where we are most creative and how stress is naturally alleviated, improving health and generally making us happier people, and so happier workers! Whether it’s gardening, running, cooking or meeting friends that breaks you out of work mode, find the things that you enjoy, put them in your diary and make sure you do them.
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