Unwinding and how to do this with less time available in your day

Photo by Jan Gottweiss on Unsplash

We all need to take a break now and then, and especially during the workweek rush, it is essential to slow down and be more mindful about creating relaxing moments to make the best of busy days.

Here are some ways to give yourself time during the day to truly unwind.

#1 Pause Social Media
It’s okay to take a break from social media. Permit yourself and set your intentions to take breaks from social platforms. Do your best to only check in at set times. 

#2 Take a Phone Break
Turn off notifications, and turn your ringer/vibrating off. We’ve become so attuned to the notifications of our smartphones, having them constantly tell us someone needs us or something is required of us. It can be so freeing to just leave your phone charging for the day without glancing and go about your day without being tied to your phone. If this makes you anxious, try turning the notifications off with a do not disturb setting for a few hours, and then extend from there.

#3 Take a Moment to Breathe
Explore short meditations – most meditation apps have simple 2-3 minute meditations. You can also find guided breathing exercises on YouTube (Search for Box Breathing). If your mind wanders, it will either start from the beginning or where you left off. This technique is excellent for returning to sleep or unwinding from stressful moments.

#4 Dance it Out
If you’re having a particularly stressful day, one of the best ways to unwind might be to host a private dance party for yourself. Close yourself in a room, blast some banging tunes, and dance your heart out! Dance is a form of exercise and is also great for improving your posture, mood, and flexibility and easing anxiety.

#5 Stretch Your Body
If you can feel how tense your body is, a great way to unwind is by introducing a short stretch to your routine. Stretching is good for easing anxiety and muscle discomfort and will give you a better posture.

#6 Get Clear on What You Can and Can’t Control
Unwinding also includes focusing on what you can and can’t control. Think about precisely what you’re concerned about, and then ask yourself if you have any control over it. If the answer is no – and it often is – let it go. If the answer is yes, do what you can and move on.

#7 Support Someone Else
Sometimes the quickest way to unwind is to focus on someone other than ourselves. For instance, you can call a friend and talk about how they’re doing. Then, listen intently to their concerns. 

#8 Be Kind to Yourself
Intentionally optimizing rest so it’s as effective as possible is a worthy endeavor for many reasons—but also, it shouldn’t be an added source of stress or something you pressure yourself to do all the time. There will be days when negative thoughts and guilt creep in, or you opt for numbing out, or escapism instead of something you know works better. There will probably be many days like that, and it’s okay.

It’s easy to fall into an all-or-nothing mentality around rest. Maybe you push yourself too hard during the week and only rest on weekends. Or perhaps you tell yourself you don’t have the time, bandwidth, or resources to rest “properly,” so you don’t do it. But unfortunately, when we do that, we run the risk of burning out and rendering rest less effective overall, but we also wind up turning to activities that aren’t restful so much as numbing.

That sort of restrictive behavior works against our rest. You can fall into binges when you don’t have smaller moments more regularly. And given that for many, binges can come with guilt, shame, and other emotions that impact our ability to relax, it’s a lot more practical to build relaxation into your schedule regularly. So try sprinkling some of the activities you usually save for the weekend throughout the week instead and see how that works.

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