Many of us are forced to process immense amounts of information everyday at work. Even more of us still are working at jobs that don’t align with our core values. In other words, very few people have the luxury of doing something they truly love. With all the stress, anxiety, effort, and time invested in these somewhat forced endeavors that we call work, it’s easy to allow work to become invasive. It’s unfortunate and yet all too common, especially in today’s information- and data-driven world to let work-related thoughts and worries intrude on our times of rest, namely evenings and weekends. I work in what I would describe as an incredibly fast-paced and demanding environment, so I had to learn techniques to help me switch off after work.
This post contains affiliate links, which help us keep the blog afloat. Click here for more information.
1. The 3 things journaling method to switch off after work
At the end of each day (especially imperative on Fridays), simply write down three things that went well and three things that did not go so well or that could be improved upon the following day. Multiple studies have revealed the benefits of getting your thoughts out of your head by putting them on paper.
Courtney E. Ackerman, MSc, writes in her post on positivephyschology.com, 83 Benefits of Journaling for Depression, Anxiety, and Stress:
“Journaling can be effective for many different reasons and help you reach a wide range of goals. It can help you clear your head, make important connections between thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and even buffer or reduce the effects of mental illness!”
This 5-minute journaling session is a time to pat yourself on the back for the things that went well. We don’t take enough time to celebrate the mini successes we experience each day. Take a moment to brainstorm potential corrective actions for the things that didn’t go so well. Even if they’re not concrete or exhaustive solutions, this exercise of looking for improvements will lessen the likelihood that you’ll be mulling over these issues in the shower later that evening.
2. Don’t resist against work-related thoughts
I started to worry a bit when, on weekends, the first thing that would cross my mind upon waking up was something work related. I began to think that this was an unhealthy manifestation of stress and worry. But then it occurred to me that this is perfectly normal and unavoidable. The sheer volume of time and energy I spend working on complex problems at work is the contributing factor to these thoughts (and dreams) on weekends, and is not necessarily indicative of problems with stress or worry.
Even artists working on their true passion or philanthropists dedicating their lives to help others will have intrusive thoughts related to their work. Now, when I have projects and deadlines swirling around in my head whilst laying in bed, I simply smile, recognize that the thought is neither good nor bad, but just the natural and understandable workings of my brain. Then, the thought slips away more easily. More importantly, I avoid a stress reaction to what is in reality a harmless thought. It’s worth noting as well that when I began to make habits out of the 7 techniques to switch off after work featured in this article, the frequency and intensity of such bed-time thoughts diminished.
3. Landmarking
If you still go to work everyday at a physical location, there is one simple trick you can deploy to create some mental separation from your workplace. Landmarking consists of 3 easy steps:
- Identify a physical landmark located at a point beyond which you can no longer see your workplace. It could be around the corner of another building, a tree, your car, or a bus stop. It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as it represents the threshold after which you can literally no longer see your workplace.
- While approaching this landmark, after your work has finished for the day, do a quick mental recap of your day. You can adapt the first technique from this article by recapping 3 good things and 3 not-so-good things about your day.
- Once you reach your landmark, simply turn back, look at your workplace, smile, and give it a little wave goodbye or some form of acknowledgement that you’re leaving it behind.
And that’s it. It’s incredibly simple, but trust me, this little acknowledgement helps you establish that there is a physical boundary separating you from your work, which works in a wonderful way to build up a mental boundary as well.
4. Out of sight, out of mind
If you work from home, as so many of us do these days, you can adapt the above technique to your workspace. At the end of the day, make sure that all work-related items are out of sight. If you have a dedicated room in your home for work, this becomes much easier to execute, as you can simply shut the door to that room when work has finished for the day.
However, many of us are forced to transform our living rooms, kitchens, or even bedrooms into mini offices. This is where it’s incredibly important to keep work-related things out of sight. If you don’t have a cabinet or drawers in which you can stuff notebooks, laptops or other reminders, simply get yourself a cardboard box. The act of packing these items away at the end of the day can be a meditative one, where you can also perform a mental recap and acknowledgement of the day’s end. Then, as you’re relaxing with your family in the evening, it will be impossible for you to glance at your work-related notebook and begin to worry about its contents.
5. Meditate to switch off after work
We write a lot about meditation because it is our most powerful tool for developing a healthy relationship with our thoughts. When you sit down to meditate in the evening, it is likely that at least one work-related thought (but probably many more) will pop into your head. This is neither good nor bad. In fact, maybe it’s beneficial to sit with these inevitable thoughts in a more controlled situation, where you can observe them non-judgmentally. It’s a chance for you to process them on your own time. Coupled with the relaxing benefit of mindful breathing, your meditation time becomes a time for unwinding and processing.
Developing the ability to see thoughts for what they really are (harmless) as they arise in the moment is much like building a muscle or acquiring a skill. It takes practice, and the more you practice, the more you’ll have a healthy relationship with your work-related thoughts as they arise in times when they are unwelcome. Meditation is perhaps the most essential technique to help you switch off after work.
6. Be mindful of social time with colleagues when you need to switch off after work
Gaining social relationships as a result of your career is a wonderful thing. I’ve personally made some life-long friends through my work. But there is one thing I noticed about nearly every social interaction with my colleagues/friends: we always discuss work. This is not necessarily a bad thing, and I’m not advising you to cut off contact with your colleagues outside of working hours. However, if you’re feeling exceptionally stressed about work, or finding yourself over-thinking about work during your personal time, then you might want to take the preventative measure of politely declining social interactions with colleagues during that period. Your friends from work are one of the greatest benefits of having a job, but just be aware that they can also be living, breathing reminders of work, so just be mindful of this in times of excessive stress or anxiety.
7. Recognize the difference between rest and action
This is one of our fundamental principles at The Mindful Stoic. We believe that nearly all our time can be categorized as either rest or action. Action is when there is a distinct goal or outcome we are trying to achieve, something that is unavoidable, and even attractive to many people. Then, rest is any time where there is no goal or desired outcome; spending time with family or watching a movie, for example. It’s important to recognize this on a macro level, but for this technique to help you switch off after work, let’s focus on the micro.
Distinguishing between rest and action on the micro level means constantly asking yourself throughout the day, ‘is this action or is this rest?’ In your morning routine, which I hope consists of some self care activity such as meditation, journaling, exercise, or whatever it may be, is a time of rest. When we recognize this, we can approach it with the intent to rest. Another great example of this is showering.
If I simply hop in the shower directly after working on something, I will bathe and wash, certainly, but I will also be thinking a thousand thoughts, many of which are goal-oriented. However, if right before I enter the shower, I remind myself that I am switching into rest mode, then I can turn my shower time into a meditative, restful experience, perhaps even massaging my scalp and neck a bit to relieve some stress, taking deep breaths, etc.
Enter the situation with the right intent
Conversely, when I sit down to work or to create something, I can acknowledge that I am entering into action mode. Then, I can arrive into the situation with the right intent for accomplishing my goal. I can ask myself, ‘what am I trying to achieve?’, ‘what is the most effective way for me to conduct myself’, etc. In essence, by recognizing that you’re entering into an outcome-based situation, you enter into it with maximum focus.
Final word
Developing the mindfulness skill of recognizing this fundamental difference between almost any activity has a profound impact on our ability to switch off after work, because you can find moments of rest throughout the day; while eating lunch, speaking to a colleague about your weekend plans, or going for a walk. Then, during the evening and weekend, you realize again that you’re resting and arrive with a mindset that is conducive to rest.
The most important thing to remember about all of these techniques is that they take practice. Furthermore, we need to develop ways to turn these into habits, so that they become automatic. An excellent book that can help you turn techniques into habits is Atomic Habits by James Clear. Finally, remember that thoughts are only harmful when we have a stress reaction to them. So the next time you’re incessantly thinking about work during your off time, remember to simply acknowledge the thought as natural and harmless.