how to de-stress after a busy week

24th September 2015

Work is stressful, we all know that. I’ve worked in so many different environments from shop floors to offices to walking the streets of London all day, meeting to meeting. No matter what we do sometimes, it gets on top of us. But knowing when enough is enough and you need to take a step back from it all is the really hard part. We become so consumed in achieving our life goals that sometimes we forget that we need to take care of ourselves in order to still be on our A game. I have been to that point where you have run yourself so far into the ground that the road back becomes longer than you ever imagined so I realised I had to make some big changes in order to ensure that I never let myself reach that point again. Firstly I decided to create a working environment that was light, uncluttered and tranquil. I wanted to surround myself with the feeling of calm so that whenever I do feel the stresses of life taking their toll, every inch of my surroundings are designed to relax me. But you don’t need to redecorate just yet, even something as simple as a perfectly selected home fragrance is enough to transport you to a place of pure calm. Building boundaries from work and personal life is a skill we all need to master and whilst I am no expert I try my hardest to draw a line under each day to ensure work deadlines and stresses don’t spill over into our precious down time. Being self employed means I have to make the rules and if there aren’t rules things quickly spiral into chaos. Giving myself regular working hours with breaks to refresh and return with a clear mind are […]

Work is stressful, we all know that. I’ve worked in so many different environments from shop floors to offices to walking the streets of London all day, meeting to meeting. No matter what we do sometimes, it gets on top of us. But knowing when enough is enough and you need to take a step back from it all is the really hard part.

We become so consumed in achieving our life goals that sometimes we forget that we need to take care of ourselves in order to still be on our A game. I have been to that point where you have run yourself so far into the ground that the road back becomes longer than you ever imagined so I realised I had to make some big changes in order to ensure that I never let myself reach that point again.

Firstly I decided to create a working environment that was light, uncluttered and tranquil. I wanted to surround myself with the feeling of calm so that whenever I do feel the stresses of life taking their toll, every inch of my surroundings are designed to relax me. But you don’t need to redecorate just yet, even something as simple as a perfectly selected home fragrance is enough to transport you to a place of pure calm.

Building boundaries from work and personal life is a skill we all need to master and whilst I am no expert I try my hardest to draw a line under each day to ensure work deadlines and stresses don’t spill over into our precious down time. Being self employed means I have to make the rules and if there aren’t rules things quickly spiral into chaos. Giving myself regular working hours with breaks to refresh and return with a clear mind are essential.

Escape, I talk about it often. As much as I wouldn’t say no to 2 weeks in the Maldives this kind of escape comes from within. Whilst the house is empty during the day, I make full use of the silence in the house and allow myself “Mini Me Time Breaks”. I light my favourite candle from Rituals Tao collection and perch myself either on my yoga mat or my favourite place in the whole wide world, our bed. There are a number of great apps with guided meditation and I’ve been trialling the new one from Rituals. The reason I find guided meditation apps so useful is the ease of which you tune in and switch off from the world around you whilst the soothing words guide your mind away from reality for as long as you allow it. You can fit sessions in on your lunch breaks or schedule out an hour to totally unwind during lunch. I find this improves my productivity 10 fold at work whilst also keeping me in the most focused and level mind frame at all times whilst also being just as indulgent as a trip to a Spa!

What is your ultimate way to relax? Share your me-time ritual with me while using #MyRituals. You can also win an ultimate relaxation gift set worth over £100.

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This post is in collaboration with Rituals but all opinions are my own.