How to Relax After a Busy Day
Key takeaways
Take it slow: Deep breaths and a clean living space are your best guides to a clear mind.
Use your time wisely: After a busy day, find ways to engage yourself in meaningful exercise and art to find relaxing happiness.
Your future is bright: Hard days will come and go, but you can navigate them. Just stay true to yourself.
Get a head start
If you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you’ve had a busy day and are looking for ways to enjoy a calm evening. Would I be right about that? Since I can’t hear your answer, I’ll have to give an unwarranted response. Close your eyes, take a deep breath in, hold it there for 3 seconds, and partake in a long exhale. Do those 4 more times. Now, open your eyes and rejoin me. My hope is that you can now be slightly more focused and grounded while learning how to relax after a busy day.
The main point of those deep breaths was to put your mind at ease. This strategy allows you to connect your mind and body, pushing out any lingering tensions from the day’s work. You’re off the clock now, leave that work at work. At this point you’re no longer being paid to think about work, so truly what’s the benefit? No matter if it’s work, school, or home tasks that your mind keeps focusing on, remember the times for those delegated tasks - don’t let them creep into your personal headspace. Think about the stress factors at the end of the day: folding laundry, cooking dinner, cleaning the living room, etc. A clean home will lead to a clean state of mind. Encourage yourself to set aside just 2 hours on a Sunday to get ready for the upcoming week by setting up some easy meal preps and taking the extra measure to clean the house. Setting aside time before a busy week starts is the best way to set yourself up for mid-week success. Now, all you need to worry about is small pick-ups around the home during the week. With your deep breaths taken and home space prepared and clean you can lean into your relaxation time further. We all work hard and deserve to truly relish in our breaks!
Find fulfillment
Most people go to work so they can make a living. Work is meant to act as the enabler for you to live out your life. Did you hear that right? Work is the provider; it is not your entire life. Use your 5-9 after your 9-5 to give back to yourself! That’s not meant to say run an entire marathon after work (unless you want to) but ensure that there is always a piece of your day that makes it more than just another average weekday. If you need a short nap, give your body that time to rest but only for a brief 20–30-minute period. Another great way to earn some energy back and relax your mind is exercise! My favorite is an outdoor walk for 30 minutes to an hour depending on weather. After sitting mostly still all day we can feel restless, so it’s perfect to give our bodies some movement while allowing our minds to detox. Part of my relaxation routine also includes listening to music. The events of the day, and once again the weather, is a huge determining factor of what to listen to. During your exercise or while eating dinner just relax with whatever sounds best to you in your current moment.
Now that you’ve regained some energy and pushed all work thoughts out of your mind, do something fun! Oftentimes, I feel like my brain has used a lot of its power throughout the day and I don’t have much power left to exert. That’s why smaller tasks that bring us joy are a nice companion for these days. Any activity that falls into an arts category is my biggest piece of advice. The arts stimulate our brain in a different way than most 9-5 jobs do. Participating in these hobbies won’t burnout your brain capacity, however they will leave you feeling fulfilled and peaceful with your evening. Some easy ideas include crochet or knitting, playing musical instruments, drawing, scrapbooking, poetry, and more! We can take all our passion or hardships from the day and use that to create beautiful art. Letting ourselves be creative is a lost prophecy and one of the best ways to give back to ourselves. Of course, winding down with TV or a book is my favorite way to really escape right before bed. All to say, meet a friend for drinks, play with your dog, or create a watercolor painting. Spend your time living, not on social media.
You did it!
Our days might be busy, but more than that they should feel rewarding. There is a vast difference between busy and overwhelming. You want your time to be well spent and productive, but not too jam pact it is unbearable. Finding that sweet spot between work and personal life is the key to a balanced lifestyle. Once you’ve wrapped up a busy day, always make sure to thank yourself for the work you accomplished. You have made it through one busy day, so you know you can make it through another in the future! Learning our capacities allows us to relax instead of stress about what lies ahead. You are stronger than you may realize! No matter the contents of your day, just remember time for yourself should never be taken for granted. The true meaning of relaxation ultimately is about filling your time with the things that bring you the most happiness. Your life is yours to live, so love how you live it!
