The Nuance
The Best Way to End Your Workday
Certain tasks encourage psychological detachment from work, which can prevent stress and burnout
Betty White, who died New Year’s Eve at the age of 99, liked to drink a vodka on the rocks every night before dinner. According to the Financial Times, White often credited both her longevity and her career success to her evening cocktail.
Alcohol has plenty of downsides. (And White was probably joking anyway.) But there’s something to be said for rituals that help you disengage from work so you can fully savor your free time — something that more and more of us seem to find difficult.
Recent nationwide surveys have found that fully half of U.S. workers are now experiencing burnout, which the World Health Organization describes as feelings of exhaustion, ennui, and negativity toward one’s occupation. Burnout can look a lot like depression and anxiety, and it results from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed,” according to the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases.
While burnout has always been a thing, experts believe the rise of remote work, mobile email, and other technologies that keeps us tethered to our jobs has made it increasingly difficult to disconnect at the end of…
