How to switch off better from work

[EnglishRain]

Has anyone found anything that helps?

I have been on long term sick (surgery related) and due back shortly. The time off has been a good reminder that work shouldn’t be so important. Not least because my manager revealed their true colours whilst I was off, and it confirms that they don’t care about people as individuals, just about what they can deliver work wise. I have been really disappointed by their lack of support.

I am reasonably senior so it’s not as easy as always taking my lunch break or making sure I log off when I’m due to finish (although I am going to try and in-still better boundaries here).

I find work is often still in my head when I log off. I work from home mostly and my study even feels like a negative place to be. No point changing job just now, don’t think it’s worth it with the current climate and given my health situation, better to concentrate on getting better before any big changes.

Has anyone found anything that helped?

Cardio. I go to jumping fitness and sometimes zumba.

What exactly are you thinking about - is it colleagues, conflicts, outstanding tasks?

Do you like the space in your home office?

What do you do in your spare time?

What do you do in your spare time? Do you have things to distract you? Maybe take up a new hobby.
Does your partner (if you have one) talk about work. Maybe suggest no work chat in your own time.

If you have work emails coming through on your phone, turn that off so you only get them when you log on.

I’ve got loads of hobbies and things I like doing but I struggle to actually do them. I have a couple of sewing projects to do and one underway, and I’ve got lots of books to read. I am fine in my own company, don’t tend to get lonely. Life is busy as I have a few different pets and a primary age DC.

I get stuck scrolling on instagram a lot, I definitely think I need to try and pull away from my phone more. I’ve thought that for ages but not had any real success! I watch a bit of TV but not loads as I struggle to get into things.

I can walk my dogs, but the kind of surgery I had means I’ve been advised I can’t do any cardio for a few more weeks, and even then I’ll have to build it up slowly. I wasn’t amazingly fit but I do feel like I’ve lost fitness and that it will take time to build it back up.

I think I get stuck replaying things at work in my head or stressing about how much there is to do. There is a lot I can’t delegate and whilst I have permission to hire somebody else it’s going to be an incredibly slow process and won’t improve things for quite some time.

I feel quite resentful about work I think, which feels unreasonable as I am better off than a lot of people.

Does your life out of work give you enough mental challenge?
I find this is the best way to really help me forget about work. Walking the dog would be no good for me as I’d just go over in my head everything I had to do tomorrow!

I have friends who love a holiday chilling on a sun lounger with a book but my mind drifts and I find myself thinking of work if I do this.
I’m much more relaxed and refreshed after a holiday which has needed mental focus like learning to sail/cookery classes/sightseeing with lots of history to absorb/group walking tours with lots of different people to meet and talk to.

Could you try having something at the end of your working day which is going to need mental focus in a different area, not just a passtime where your mind can still wander back to work? Maybe something you do with other people as this is an added distraction

I like my job, but I do ruminate over things that have been said or done and I do think it’s at the end of the day because that is when my brain has space to think.

For the pieces I’m ruminating on, I try and dive into it. Is it me, is it that my actions or behaviour has led to this situation and actually I’m annoyed at myself and trying to justify it. Or is it them? Is it something I am not in control of. You’d be surprised how quickly rational self-reflection works. My WFH days are usually busy, breaks are spent on chores, no commute, school pick up, there isn’t a lot of ‘downtime’ for the brain to process.

At the end of most work from home days, I go and do something outside. Gardening. Deadheading flowers. Planting seeds. Sweeping. 15 minutes of being outside doing a different activity. Nature is calming, other ‘air’ shifts my brain from work to home, I leave it out there.

My favorite remedy is spending time in the nature. Packing a picnic and going for a hike (or long walk) on a Sunday definitely helps me feel better about an impending crappy week at work. Even if you can't walk much just being in the nature helps.

I assume swimming must be ok for your back. It's another great exercise.

I have exactly the same issue, so am following for ideas.

I'm WFH full time until the end of the year. I think the commute home in the old days, and also proper contact with colleagues helped me to switch off the rumination.

On Fridays, to underline that work is OVER, I sometimes go for a half pint in a local pub. Log fire in winter, beer garden on nice days. And just decompress and people watch.
Being somewhere physically different does help.

going for walks SHOULD in theory work but I find I just ruminate while walking!