Back in the Office? How to Recover From Work Related Stress

The recent pandemic changed a lot of our everyday routines. For many people, one of the biggest changes came in the form of adjusting to working from home. As businesses have begun to reopen and many are finding themselves adjusting once again. This time the adjustment is being back at the office once more, even if only for limited days.

It’s important to learn how to recognize and manage any stress that may come with that in a healthy, efficient manner. For anyone who may benefit from these tips, today we’re talking about how to recover from work related stress and live a healthy, balanced lifestyle.

Learning How to Recover from Work Related Stress

Going back to the office after working from home during the recent pandemic can be stressful in itself. You may be worried about balancing your work schedule, adjusting your family schedule to meet all your needs, or even have some social anxiety about being around so many more people than you may have been used to over the past year.

Learning how to recover from work related stress doesn’t have to be difficult. Figuring out how to keep work stress away from home as well as managing stress while at the office will help you maintain peace of mind and strike a healthy medium. This is essential to avoid what is commonly referred to in studies “burnout,” which can be a cause of depression and increased anxiety.

A few ways to consider when learning how to recover from work related stress include:

Being aware of how work related stress affects you
Working on time management skills
Having a healthy work life balance
Learning how to leave stress at work
Finding ways to relax at home from work related stress

Identify Your Work Related Stress Symptoms

The first part in learning how to recover from work related stress is to identify some of your work related stress symptoms. Some may be obvious to you, such as feelings of anxiety, nervousness, or even anger. Others, however, may surprise you. It may be that you thought nothing of having low energy or a recurring headache but the fact is these could be prime work related stress symptoms. Once you’re able to identify them, you can start working on ways to avoid them or recover from them.

Some work related stress symptoms you may have experienced include:

Headaches (especially consistent tension headaches)
Having low energy or dragging through the day
Insomnia or other troubles sleeping at night
Digestive issues
Sweating or nervousness
Feelings of low self-esteem
Reduced sex drive

As you can see, work related stress symptoms may come in many forms. Once you start seeing your possible symptoms as part of this stress, you can work to resolve the catalyst. This may result in you learning how to boost energy levels throughout your day and put you in a much better way to manage daily stressors.

How Time Management Helps to Reduce Stress From Work

This brings us right to the next point on our list of how to recover from work related stress: time management. Studies have shown the effect of time management on stress, anxiety, and even sleep quality. Learning how to manage your workload at the office is also effective for keeping work stress away from home.

For example, do morning emails stress you out? Start scheduling your mornings to allow yourself time to ease into your workday. Start with some other tasks that get you in the mindset for work then check your emails after an hour or so.

What about morning meetings? While you may not always have control over the time for meetings, when you are able to, schedule meetings for later in the morning or in the early afternoon. This allows you to settle in for your day before having to attend a meeting but also prevents you from having it hanging over your head the entire workday. In fact, a popular study showed the optimal time for scheduling a meeting is 2:30 PM on Tuesdays!

Another way you can use time management when learning how to recover from work related stress is by organizing your day into periods of deep concentration work. This can be especially helpful for those with many deadlines. Sometimes deadlines can be like loud ticking clocks over our heads. Scheduling periods of time throughout your day away from potential distractions may increase your productivity and help you meet your deadlines without fear, stress, or anxiety.

Learn How to Leave Stress at Work

Part of learning how to recover from work related stress is knowing how to leave stress at work! It may take some practice, but try to leave whatever stress came your way at the door when you leave for the day.

An effective method you may want to try for how to keep work stress away from home is using your commute as a sort of zen time. While you need to be focusing on the road if you’re driving, many find ways to make their commute part of their unwinding routine from work that day. Even if traffic is bad, you can use that time to let go of that frustrating meeting, push that email from your mind, and start to refocus on the rest of your evening ahead of you.

Relaxing at Home to Recover From Work Related Stress

We can’t talk about how to recover from work related stress without discussing finding ways to relax at home. Possibly one of the most important items on our list, setting up safe spaces to relax at home and recharge after a long day at the office is critical to maintaining your mental and physical health.

Relaxing can mean many things to many people. It can be that you go home and sit on the couch to watch your favorite show. Maybe you have a luxury massage chair at home that will help you unwind for the evening. It could even be that going home and getting a workout in will help you relax! Whatever you find relaxing is the right thing. It’s about learning how to separate work stress from home life and enjoying what you want to do.

Having a massage chair at home may be a perfect way to unwind for the night and relax. It’s well known that full body massages reduce stress. Depending on the massage chair features your model has, you may be able to add the benefits of heat therapy or chromotherapy into the mix to relax and recharge.

You can’t go wrong with treating yourself to a massage for anxiety and stress. If you’ve got a massage chair at home, you can enjoy all the ways a massage chair benefits health as often as you like and at the touch of a button!

Job Stress and Work Life Balance

Last, but certainly not least, as we explore how to recover from work related stress is the importance of a healthy work life balance. This is crucial for how to separate work stress from home life. Learning how to keep work stress away from home may take some practice, but it can make a world of difference in how you feel outside of the office.

Having thoughts of work crowding your mind all day and night can raise your blood pressure, keep you awake at night, or distract you from things you would rather be enjoying like family time, seeing friends, or even just relaxing alone.

For many heading back to the office, this may mean setting boundaries about when you are and are not available each day. Do you have a work phone? Set the expectations with colleagues about when they can expect you to respond. You may not be able to stop every text or email that comes your way, but setting up those boundaries for a work life balance can help keep you from burnout. It’s a simple and reasonable solution for how to separate work stress from home life.

Another potential method to set those boundaries for your work life balance is to pick a time each day to turn off your work phone or to not keep work email accounts synced to your personal phone. For those going back to the office, this means anything that comes your way after you’ve left for the day will simply have to wait until tomorrow! For many, this is a completely reasonable expectation to be able to set.

Whether you’re back in the office full time or just back a few days a week for now, learning how to recover from work related stress is important to your overall well being. Learn your work related stress symptoms, identify ways you can streamline your workflow at the office, then choose a massage chair for home you can relax in as you care for your mind and body. With a few simple lifestyle adjustments you could see a world of difference in how you feel.

Learn more about the benefits of owning a massage chair with these resources: