Any way not to carry work home (mentally or physically)?
Question:
Answer:
I am a cognitive therapist, so I enjoy using and sharing active techniques. They might sound a little corny, but they can really work.
For example, every day as you approach the front door, picture yourself mentally bundling up your work stress and dumping it outside on the porch. Imagine yourself physically doing this and NOT bringing any of it into the house.
If, once inside, you find work issues intruding, imagine a giant red stop sign in your mind. This is your cue to STOP and to immediately put the work stress aside.
Another technique is to schedule some time to unburden the stress. For example, you can allow 15 or 30 minutes to complain to your spouse, write about the work stress, or whatever. Then, once that's done, you don't address it again for the rest of the day.
Of course, it's also a good idea to try to lessen your work stress in the first place. You didn't ask about stress reduction techniques, so I won't go into those here. But I urge you to practice them in order to alleviate the stress as much as possible. Then you won't have to worry as much about having it intrude on the rest of your life.
Dr. Barb Nefer, http://www.bnlifeskills.com
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