If you’ve had a long week, knowing how to unwind is essential. It can lower your cortisol levels, helping you recharge and reset for the following week.
The best way to unwind after a long week is to intentionally change your sensory environment. Here’s everything that you should do:
Perform a psychological clean-up
The first thing you’ll want to do to unwind after a long week is to perform a psychological clean-up. If you’ve got all sorts of tasks outstanding or there are things that you need to do, make sure you write them down on a piece of paper and specify when you’ll do them, preferably not during the weekend unless you have to.
Once you perform a psychological clean-up, you should find that everything feels clearer in your mind, you know which direction you’re going in. You can close your applications, giving your brain permission to relax and stop tracking everything once Friday night hits.
Engage in low-dopamine leisure activities
Once you’ve done that, it’s a good idea to engage in some low-dopamine leisure activities. These reduce stimulation and prevent you from being so dependent on dopamine-related social media scrolling or show binge-watching.
If you like being active at the weekend, opt for low-stimulation options. For example, if you’re looking to be engaged by something, watch immersive fiction films or get involved in a physical hobby. Similarly, when it comes to your media consumption, listen to full music albums or audiobooks instead of scrolling through short-form videos.
These small changes might not sound like much, but they can have a profound impact on your state of mind and well-being. You should notice that once you reduce the amount of dopamine rushing around your system, you feel better able to take on the challenges of the world and reset your brain.
Get involved in active recovery
After a long week at work, it’s also a nice idea to get in some active recovery. This is where you do something that’s non-work-related but requires some sort of focus or travelling somewhere.
Active recovery might include premium spa treatments in your area. It might also involve things like exploring a new physical environment, like a local wooded area, or enjoying a creative outlet.
This is a bit different from passive rest, although you might need this too. Passive rest is when you get eight hours of solid sleep without an alarm and take a mid-day nap. It can also involve soaking in a bath.
Avoid checking the news
If you can avoid the temptation to check the news, it will often derail you from your primary focus and prevent you from feeling fully recovered once Monday arrives. Also remember that news organisations design their stories to be similar to social media feeds, causing you to want to click the next story and then the next one.
So there you have it, some ways that you can unwind after a long week at work. Which of these ideas are you going to try this weekend?
