How do you switch off from work?

[NotmySundaybest]

During your Christmas break how do you switch off and stop the work anxiety kicking in?

Not a problem for me - never switched on to work in the first place!

I find it very hard. I have very vulnerable clients who have no money and benefits not been sorted etc and it is playing on my mind as still have a lot to try to sort on Monday and then not back until 2nd jan and work will just pile up in that time because referrals come in through many avenues who will be open between Christmas and new year. Also lots of staff sickness and very very few staff left doing the job due to ongoing cuts over the past few years.

Never been a problem. I switch off as I leave the building. Zero anxiety, ever.

@Oblomov24 same!

Any tips?

I forget about it the second I walk out of the door. But then then I have been working for 45 years.

I’m in a similar line of work and find it incredibly difficult this time of year to switch off.

I find it difficult and if I'm completely honest I don't fully switch off.

I receive emails constantly and there is an expectation that I will respond to the urgent ones even if on leave so I do have to review them but I manage to relax a bit by doing the following:

• before I go on leave I send out comms to my team and people in the company who may need to reach me making them aware I am on leave and that if they have something urgent they need to write Urgent in the subject line and set it as high importance. I then put a rule in place on my mailbox so those emails go into a separate folder and that is the only folder I check in on.

• I keep a notebook or sticky note available on my phone so any ideas I have I can jot them down to deal with when I return and then put them aside.

• I set myself rules that I can only check in on work when I'm not out or with my family, so it's not imposing on family time or activities.

As soon as I switch my computer off, I'm done. It is work. It has to be done when I'm there, otherwise my bills don't get paid. But has no part in my personal life at all. I just shut the door & done. I think you are either that sort of person or not. I have done many jobs, some face to face with vulnerable people, who I have done my utmost for... While I'm at work. You have to learn to protect yourself & look after your own health. If you worry constantly about work you are doing yourself a disservice & possibly in the wrong job. I know that sounds harsh, but at my great age I have found out the hard way. Majority of employers have no care re employee & we are all replaceable. I do my best during my paid hours.

I switch off the second I leave the building, I do have occasional thoughts about work when I'm off but nothing more than "I hope the building burns to the ground" or "I wonder if TS have shut the place down"

When you have an office job it's much more difficult because you know emails are still coming in, meetings are still being arranged and there'll be a pile of tasks to do on your return as opposed to the normal pre Christmas break workload

Retired now but when I was working it was as soon as I walked out of the office door.

No work email account on my phone and I never opened my work laptop in the evening, weekend or holiday. Work and home were completely separate although COVID and WFH did blur those boundaries a little at the beginning but it didn't take long to learn to shut the door just as if I was back in the office.

What do you do?

I think the type of job you do will have a bearing on this.

I previously worked in retail and had no issues switching off. I now work in the NHS and find it difficult.

I just don't let myself think about it.

When my salary was negotiated it was for set hours per week. That is it. It's a business deal.

I have a busy home life and manager is good at putting issues in perspective, 'no-ones died' (local authority comms.).

Plus feeling undervalued so even more incentive not to bother worrying, I don't go above and beyond anymore.

I’m not particularly well paid, I don’t deal with vulnerable people, and I’m not in the emergency services or anything like that. I finished work at lunchtime on Thursday 19th Dec and I’ll return at 8.30am on Friday 27th Dec. Nothing life-altering will happen during that time. I’m not paid enough to be “switched on” even if it did tbh. The older I get, the less I am bothered.

I work from home and freelance do it's especially difficult. I really don't like having work hanging over me even if there's no particular deadline other then 'after christmas'.

I have found myself really tense in the evening during family time because i in the same seat as I usually sit in to work.

I have found that having a 'work' place, even if it's a particular seat at the dining table helps. I can then go and have my 'leisure' time on a comfy sofa or something. Unfortunately I do t have an office I can close a door on. I do however pack up my work laptop and tuck it in a cupboard and that helps.

I had some cbt some time ago for anxiety. It emphasised the mind/body connection and I have found that if my body is tense then so is my mind and vice versa. Equally, if I can force my body to relax then that can let the mind relax too. Some simple breathing/meditation techniques help.

I'm very fortunate in that I'm a Supply Chain manager, and the factories I work with all close down for two weeks at Xmas. It's very easy to switch off when you know that absolutely nothing is going on without you.

I don’t think about work during my personal time. I’m not paid to.
I did in former jobs and I realised it was encroaching into my own home life and that wasn’t fair to me or my family so I changed jobs and am miles happier and far better paid too so it was a win win. It’s quite full on when I’m there but when I’m not I literally don’t think about it.
I don’t have any advice unfortunately, it will totally depend on so many factors. I have so much going on personally that I can’t actually afford to lose precious time on things that aren’t important. My job is important in so much as it pays me to be there but other than that, it’s not a consideration.