How to Decompress from Work from Home Stress‍

Work from home burnout is real. Let's pledge to:

- Unplug from work daily

- Take breaks

- Enjoy something outside of work

- Spend time with family

- Speak up when you notice an issue

- Not let work rule your life#WorldMentalHealthDay #WorkFromHome pic.twitter.com/YzakE5rRvO

— Hrishikesh Pardeshi (@hrishiptweets) October 10, 2020

Do you live to work or work to live? Remote work can be amazing for an individual. As Jennifer says, it changed her life for the better. However, it isn't always an uphill ride. Work from home stress is a real issue. Like Lindsay says in this post, "It can be more difficult to allow yourself to take a work break since work is always there, in your face. I literally have to store my laptop on a shelf in my closet when I’m not working!" This is not limited to a few people alone. Work from home is a fairly new concept and has seen mass adoption. However, it is important to get it right. To make this easier, below, we have listed ideas on how to decompress from stress while working remotely.

Before diving right in, though, it is good to understand what stress is. When things are functioning at a pace you are comfortable with, your mind is at peace. This balance is called equilibrium. However, when this is lost, it causes an imbalance that increases the Cortisol level in the human body. Cortisol and some others act as the stress hormones, and an increase in these increases your heart rate and blood pressure and leave you feeling uneasy. The following are ideas to decrease the levels of this hormone in your body.

Things you could try for the well being of your body and mind

1. Exercise: Start your day well. Stretch your muscles through a simple routine or go for full-fledged hard core exercise. Keep a mix of aerobics as well as strength training. Even just walking or swimming is a good option. This will make you feel better and also put your body in a more active state.


2. Pick up a sport: Similar to the above point on exercising, is taking up a sport. Sports activities, team or solo, improve your cognitive abilities, thus helping in focusing better and taking work in a well planned manner so that you are stressed less.


3. Take a nice hot bath: A hot bath makes the blood flow in your body easier and more oxygenated. This allows you to take deeper and slower breaths as well as improve your immunity. This is a direct opposition to the effect of Cortisol and will help in bringing you back to a state of balance.


4. Sleep well: As per this Sleepscore article, 'Following a regular sleep routine calms and restores the body, improves concentration, regulates mood, and sharpens judgment and decision-making. You are a better problem solver and are better able to cope with stress when you’re well-rested'


5. Read a book: Reading also works to decrease your heart rate and lower the BP and can reduce stress by up to 68% according to a 2009 study by the University of Sussex. So, serve yourself some tea and cuddle up with a good book, it will really help.


6. Play with a pet: Something as simple as petting a cat can make you happier and reduce stress. We have earlier written about how remote workers find peace in spending time with their animals, do check it out.


7. Spend time with your family: Spending time with the ones you love will leave you feeling happy and safe. This helps you to control the stressors in a better way and also is a good answer when it comes to how to decompress as it'll get your mind off work.


8. Resort to music: Play an instrument or simply plug in your earphones and listen to some calming music. Slower music can relax your muscles and quiet your mind and helps to decompress from work stress in a better way.


9. Meditate: Meditation puts you in a state of relaxation and calms your mind. This will make you align your thought together and find a way to balance the things n your life. It directly helps in reducing stress and keeping away the disturbance.


10. Unplug: Turn your PC off at the end of the day and make it difficult to restart work. Do not use your phone or any device that will remind you of work. If you need to use the devices, turn the notifications off and do not open the tab.


11. Eat right: Healthy food habits help you to handle stress better. Follow these habits such as reduce caffeine and alcohol in your diet, do not skip meals. Also, do not eat to relieve stress as this will only lead to overeating and guilt.


12. Aromatherapy: An underappreciated thing about the human body is how we can easily trick it into doing things. Aromatherapy can reduce the perception of stress and increase your level of contentment. Not all essential oils do the trick in the same way so be mindful of what you use.


13. Write: Writing allows you to express your emotions/ feelings so that you can understand these more clearly. This will help you to see where the stressors are and also give an idea of how to decompress.


14. Find a hobby: Art, craft, writing, singing, dancing, knitting, cooking, etc. Find a hobby that you love and do it. Spending time doing something you are fond of will help you in getting your mind off other things that disturb you.


15. Travel: Traveling also makes you happy and takes your mind off stressful situations. This will help fight and lower the cortisol levels in your body and thus relieve your mind of stress.

Some other points on decompressing from remote work stress

Problems and challenges at work are bound to arise. We have put together some tips you could use to disconnect from work. This is in line with the point on unplugging and will also help you identify if and when you are overworked. Do check it out and let us know what you think. To help you further on how to decompress from work from home stress, we have put together a list of self-care tools curated specially to make things better for you.