How to switch off at the end of the day
Do you have trouble switching off?
When you run your own business and work from home, it’s all too easy to be checking emails and responding to LinkedIn connections late into the evening. Don’t get me wrong – I’m all for working with your energy levels, and if you choose to work in the evenings because you know that’s when you’re at your best, I’m all for that.
But if you DON’T want to work in the evenings, and doing so is causing problems – whether that’s not being fully present with your partner or family, or finding it hard to sleep at night – I have a suggestion that might help.
Create an end of day ritual or rhythm to consciously signal that it’s the end of the working day and time to wind down.
Many of us think about our morning rhythm and how we ease ourselves into the day, but it’s just as important to consider what we do at the end of the day if we want to relax and enjoy our evenings without fretting about all the things we haven’t done.
(Because as I’ve said a million times, if you’re waiting until you get to the end of your to-do list before you allow yourself to switch off you’ll be waiting a Very Long Time!)*
There’s no right or wrong way to create your evening ritual, so this is a lovely opportunity to get curious and creative. What would feel good to you as a way of switching off, signalling to your brain that it’s time to stop work and enjoy your evening.
Here are some ideas to get you started:
Close all your open tabs and put away any papers you’ve been working on.
Tidy your desk after shutting down your computer. Depending on your personality type, tidying your desk can be a form of self-care, as you intentionally clear the decks so you can walk away free from the niggling feeling that there’s more to be done.
Write a ta-daa list at the end of the day, so you can acknowledge and celebrate what you’ve achieved, know that it was enough, and down tools guilt-free.
Write a 3-thing to-do list for tomorrow. Not only will this allow you to round off your day, it’ll also mean you start the next day knowing exactly what to focus on.
Change up the lighting. This one is tricky in the summer, but in the darker months adjusting the lighting so you’re using lamps rather than bright overhead lights is a great sign that it’s time to wind down.
Have an end of day playlist that’ll help shift your energy into evening mode.
Get out for a walk. When the pandemic meant everyone working from home, I heard that some people would do this at the start and end of every day. They’d create their own commute, walking around the block and then coming into the house to start their working day, and doing the same thing to end it.
Close the door at the end of the day, if you’re fortunate enough to have a home office. That’s a powerful signal that work is done and it’s time to relax.
When you find a way to switch off at the end of your working day, you create space for the other things in your life that are important to you which in turn will mean you feel refreshed and ready to go when you sit down at your desk the next morning.