"Naps are very beneficial," says Professor Jim Horne, author of Sleep Faring - A Journey Through the Science of Sleep, and director of the sleep research centre at Loughborough University. Particularly if you can fit in a quick snooze while you are at it. Relaxation is not a competitive sport - and, just because a bit of sitting about is not going to help you notch up your daily footsteps/minutes of activity/latest athletic diktat, or clean the fridge and mop the floor, does not mean it should be sniffed at. Schedule in a time to trudge through the chores to keep them separate from your down time. And does not put new ones (like why you always have to do all the cleaning in this house, or why the laundry mountain never decreases) in there. The key is to do something that completely clears stressful thoughts from your mind. Whether you need to book an afternoon for physical activity, such as pottering round the garden or the golf course, or just for sitting in front of the telly on some freshly plumped cushions does not matter. "A lot of people get themselves into quite a pickle before they realise what is going on," Griffiths says.īuilding regular relaxation into your life can help you stay focused on balancing your time. In the long term, ignoring these stress signals can lead to problems such as depression or anxiety. People also tend to smoke more or to use alcohol to help them relax, or neglect their family and friends because they are absorbed in work." "Maybe your quality of sleep isn't good, or if you are stressed you tend not to look after yourself very well - you stop eating properly or finding time for exercise.
Sit back and relax and enjoy our how to#
So how to know when it is time to take a few days off for yourself? "Sometimes you just feel very tired," says Griffiths. People are becoming aware that it is important to try to achieve that balance." "In many ways we have become more aware of taking time off and you hear people talking about work-life balance a lot more now. But we do need to take sensible breaks to relax. Recent research shows that being employed is beneficial physically and mentally. In fact, says Amanda Griffiths, professor of occupational health psychology at the University of Nottingham, going to work is good for your health. Thankfully, with many offices all but shutting down over Christmas and new year, there is no need to pull out the lame excuses at work. Or, if all else fails, there's always the phantom tummy bug - sometimes you just need to pull a sickie from your social life." "Explain that you've been out every night this week and you need an evening off.
"When you decline, be really honest about needing to take time for yourself," says George. Which is why being upfront about your reasons for refusing an invitation might go down better than you would think. "If we don't go to the party, we think we might miss out, or our friends might think less of us for not going."Įxcept, of course, that everyone else is just praying for that night when they can swap their heels for a pair of kicked-in slippers, and sit on the sofa with the cat.
"We do lots of things for appearances' sake and the fear of losing approval of others, if that's what others are doing," George says. By the time you have fitted in the gym, your evening course, drinks with friends and trips to the cinema, theatre and galleries (must not fall behind on culture, of course), there is not much space in the diary for anything else. It is not only at Christmas that finding time to wind down - rather than leg it about competitively doing "relaxing" things - can be difficult.
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