How to have a good rest from work - Lifehacker readers advise

«Let me know” is a rubric for the stories of our readers. Every week we launch a survey and look forward to your comments. The most interesting of them end up in articles and collections.

Last week, we received a question in the mail: “How to take a break from work so as not to feel like a boiled vegetable?” We organized a discussion among our readers and highlighted some good tips to help restore work‑life balance. Enjoy!

1. Draw a clear line between work and leisure

I try to make sure that I have certain hours and days of rest. Otherwise, everything turns into one continuous work with elements of inaction and worries about it.

In practice, this means that I do not mix things up. If I have lunch, I go to eat, and do not continue to sit in my laptop. If I have a day off, something extremely important must happen for me to sit down to work.

I plan my vacation as a task to be completed. I try to approach this prophylactically - to relax before I get tired.

At this point, it is important to switch off from work and head. After all, if I rest, but I sit in the office with my thoughts, everything goes down the drain. To do this, you can answer yourself the questions: “Do I need this? Not good. Is it good for me to continue doing this? No".

For me, the 5/2 option turned out to be cool - 5 working days, 2 days off. It’s easier for me to stay a little longer on weekdays than to postpone the case to Saturday or Sunday.

It is not always possible to follow the rules, force majeure happens. At such moments, I understand what it is fraught with, and I try to redistribute things. For example, I refuse in favor of rest or sleep from some minor household tasks - not cleaning the floors or not preparing dinner. I try to make my life easier during this period.

I came to all this, once burned out. Now I love my job too much to allow myself to be stupidly left without it due to the fact that I overloaded myself.

2. Turn rest into a habit

About a year ago, I realized that my life was going somewhere wrong. The decision came by itself. Rest had to be introduced into life as a routine. Here's what it takes.

1. The right way to start your morning. I have rituals that tune in the right way and give energy. At this time, I plan the schedule for the day. This gives me an idea of ​​how many hours I spend on each task and when I should start resting. Yes, you need to plan your vacation!

In addition, thanks to a clear plan, during the day I do not waste my resources on thinking: “What to cook for dinner? How can I manage to do all the household chores and find time for meditation?

I can focus on work and complete it faster.

2. Arrange your life in such a way as to devote a minimum of time to it. Properly organize storage, make preparations for your favorite dishes and freeze them for future use, divide responsibilities between households, taking some of the burden off yourself.

3. Correctly organize sleep. I try to go to bed and get up at the same time no matter what. And also at least an hour before bedtime, I put away all gadgets. Application sleep town allows me not to hang on the phone until the morning - it locks the screen at a set time. It helps me relax and have a good rest.

I have been doing this for over a year now and have never regretted it! "Side effect" - there was a clear understanding of where and what time is spent on. I began to take care of myself and my loved ones more, to be less distracted by anything in the process of work.

Yes, there are days when you can’t perform your rituals, but we are living people! This is fine.

3. Find a hobby that will energize

I consider myself a workaholic. I work over 60 hours a week. Riding a motorcycle helps to relax and recharge. This hobby does not forgive mistakes and makes you concentrate on the road. Just a couple of minutes behind the wheel, and everything superfluous goes out of my head!

And weekend trips 500 km from home are generally a great way to recharge so that you can go to work on Monday with renewed vigor.

4. Practice Mindfulness

It seems to me that even if you try to distinguish between work and leisure, thoughts about burning reports and deadlines can still seep into normal life.

When I feel like I'm immersed in thinking about work while watching a movie, walking, or reading a book, I try to capture that moment and do mindfulness practice.

What it means: I shift my attention away from these thoughts and focus on the sensations in my body.

1. I follow my breath.
2. I analyze my movements: “Now I raise my hand, now I take a step, now I bite off bread.”
3. I observe the senses: “What smell do I smell? What do I hear? What do objects around me feel like? What does the environment look like?

This is a powerful exercise that helps to distract from disturbing thoughts, feel "here and now" and relax. Still, relaxation is the basis of rest.

5. Take breaks while you work

If you work 8 hours without breaks, it will take much longer to recover. It seems to me that quality rest does not mean “resuscitation of the dead” at the end of the working day, but a powerful recharge so that after it you want to do some other things and live in general.

So now I have set an iron rule for myself: to rest for at least 5-10 minutes every hour. At this time, I can go for a walk around the office, make myself a coffee, do eye exercises or a little meditation.

I don’t like to be pushy, but I would like to tell everyone: just try to live in such a schedule for at least a week! You will see that at the end of the working day you do not feel as overwhelmed as before.

An important rule: sticking to the phone is not included at this time. Scrolling through news and memes is not a vacation, but the same physical exercise for the brain, which is unlikely to relax you.