How to Wind Down After Work
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Put a gap between finishing work and everything after it. Ten minutes with a clear beginning and a clear end will do more than an hour of trying to relax, because the problem is rarely a shortage of time. It is that the day never formally stopped.
Working from home made this harder. When the commute disappeared, so did the half hour that used to separate one part of the day from the other, and most people have never replaced it.
Build the gap on purpose
A commute worked because it had edges. It started, it took a fixed amount of time, and it ended somewhere else. Anything with those three properties will do the same job.
Ten minutes is enough. A walk around the block, a shower, one side of a record, tidying the desk and closing the laptop lid. What matters is that it finishes rather than trailing off into the evening.
Get changed first
This is the single highest-return step and the one most often skipped. Staying in what you worked in keeps the working day running quietly in the background. Changing ends it.
It costs about ninety seconds and works the same way that putting on gym clothes makes you more likely to actually go. This is the part of the evening our cotton sets were made for, and it is why they are cut relaxed and sold as separates. What you change into matters far less than the changing.
Close the loop before you leave it
Most of what follows you into the evening is unfinished thinking rather than unfinished work.
Write down the three things for tomorrow before you stand up. Not a full list, three items. It is the difference between carrying them around all night and knowing they are somewhere safe.
Change something in the room
The room you worked in is still telling you to work. Give it one visible change so it stops.
- Turn off the overhead light and put a lamp on.
- Close the laptop rather than leaving it open on the table.
- Open a window for a few minutes, even in winter.
- Clear one surface. Not the room, one surface.
- Light a candle, if that is your thing, because it is a visible marker that something changed.
Then leave it alone
The last part is doing nothing in particular for a few minutes. Sitting with a drink, standing at a window, lying on the floor. No podcast, no scrolling, nothing to finish.
This feels unproductive and that is the point. If every part of the evening has a task attached, the day has not really ended, it has only changed clothes. For what comes after this, things to do before bed instead of your phone picks up where this leaves off, and how to build an evening routine you will actually keep covers making any of it stick.
Common questions
What is the best way to wind down after work?
Create a short gap with a clear start and end, around ten minutes. Get changed, write down three things for tomorrow, change one thing about the room such as swapping the overhead light for a lamp, then spend a few minutes doing nothing in particular. The edges matter more than the length.
How do I switch off from work when I work from home?
Replace the commute with something that has the same shape: a fixed start, a fixed length, and a different place at the end. A walk around the block, a shower, or one side of a record all work. Closing the laptop and changing clothes are the two clearest signals.
How long should a wind down routine be?
Ten minutes is enough to work and short enough to keep. A routine that needs an hour gets abandoned the first busy week, and one that fits into the gap you actually have survives.
Why do I still feel wired after work?
Usually because the day ended without a marker, so it carries on quietly in the background. Adding a definite ending, something you do every time and then stop, gives it somewhere to finish.
More: how to build an evening routine you will actually keep, things to do before bed instead of your phone, and loungewear versus pajamas.