6 Ideas for When You Need to Unwind

Often, just knowing how to spend your downtime to relax best can be just as stressful as your everyday routine. You can put a lot of pressure on yourself to spend your spare time wisely that it’s common to be unsure how best to relax and spend your time.

When it comes to unwinding, there is no right or wrong answer: you do what works for you. Here are six ideas if you’re struggling for inspiration.

1. Play a Game

This can be whatever kind of game you’re into, and which works best for what you enjoy. It could be playing a mobile or lottery game such as on your mobile to use LottoGo; it could be a puzzle book or a video game. Anything which doesn’t require too much overwhelming thinking, and in which you can lose yourself (and nothing too challenging so that you don’t risk becoming even more stressed!).

2. Take a Walk

Not only is this great exercise, but it’s significantly successful for working off built up energy and stress. Tailor your walk to peaceful and natural surroundings so that you can escape the busyness and spend time in the quiet. It doesn’t have to be a long walk – even a ten-minute walk can help you to shift the stresses of the day.

3. Do Nothing

A lot of people struggle just to stop every once in a while, and do nothing. This time is great for reevaluating yourself and reconnecting with yourself, such as through five-minute meditation or simply sitting and practicing mindfulness to calm yourself and concentrate on your breathing. Taking this break and doing nothing can help you to recharge and return to your routine feeling more relaxed.

4. Take Comfort to the Max

You can’t truly unwind if you’re not comfortable. Set up a safe space at home where comfort is the priority. Get some warm blankets, pillows, muted lighting or even run a hot bubble with natural bath bombs and light some candles. Whatever comfort means to you, make sure that there’s a place in your home which is optimized for it so you can easily retreat to it and feel at ease.

5. Cook a Healthy Meal

Cooking can be very therapeutic. Instead of viewing your evening meal as a stressful endeavor when you arrive home from work, make it fun. Find some interesting recipes and make a meal you can look forward to. Following a recipe and creating something new will give you something to focus on and distract your mind from stresses of the day. You’ll also then be able to enjoy the delicious results!

6. Write a Journal

Expressing your thoughts and feelings in a journal can help you to sort through any pent up thoughts and energy you might have, especially if you’ve had a trying day. Even if it’s just a short journal entry, this can be very helpful for getting things off your chest when you don’t necessarily want to talk to others about it.