Let’s be honest—work is super stressful. Even situations that aren’t supposed to be stressful can rattle us into a frenzy and ruin our entire day. That’s just adulting, right? If your work week leaves you feeling frazzled, here are some handy hacks to stress less on the 9-5 grind.
Set An Enjoyable Morning Routine
The term ‘morning routine’ is so often linked to hardcore 5am starts, slamming down raw egg whites and doing hell-worthy workouts that leave you ready for nothing but a big nap. But a morning routine doesn’t have to be what self help books are made of. Simply choosing to start your day with something you enjoy can make all the difference to your mindset and stress levels. Whether that’s an episode of Real Housewives, a walk along the beach, or just chilling on your couch with a coffee and a book—just make it something you enjoy.
Ever heard of that thing called revenge bedtime procrastination? Psychologists believe we stay up late on weeknights because work leaves us feeling cheated out of our leisure time. By prioritising yourself first thing in the morning, you’re less likely to self-sabotage by staying up late, and actually find it easier to get out of bed in the morning.
Schedule Downtime
We pack our schedule with meetings and deadlines and obligations, and make it our mission to adhere to them all—so why not do the same with downtime? Schedule an evening with zero plans beyond choosing a Netflix show in the bath, or block out 20 minutes in your work day to just do nothing. Not only does physically taking the time out help your stress levels, it helps your overall mindset to see your own priorities scheduled with as much importance as other people’s.
Compartmentalise Your To-Do Lists
There are to-do lists, and there are to-do lists. You know what we mean—the to-dos that need to be done like, today, and the to-dos that clog up your mental load because they’re whirring around your consciousness needing to be done in two weeks’ time.
To reduce your work week stress, try compartmentalising your to-do lists to reduce the volume of things you’re tasking yourself with each day. Using free tools like Trello or Google Keep, or even just notes on your phone, have a to-do list that you update each day, as well as a longer term to-do list where you can dump reminders instead of allowing them to clutter up your brain. Depending on your job and lifestyle, you might want to break down your to-do lists into even more categories. This can help you clearly lay out what needs to be done in each area, and helps you methodically work through them without getting overwhelmed. Smaller to-do lists can help you feel more accomplished and builds momentum to keep you feeling motivated.
Hungry for more ways to improve your work week wellness? Try these 6 healthy work habits to live by.
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Emma is a finance blogger at The Broke Generation and a reformed spendaholic. She shares hot tips on saving, property, tax, career and investing for millennials who want to break the spending cycle and get financially confident.