As requested, the four pillars of self care after work that I would recommend to a client so that they are getting rest and recovery after their shift and not spending the afternoon fluffing around doing things that actually aren't helpful. And of course, tweak this as needed. I understand shift workers, I understand that people work all crazy hours, I understand that people work different very demanding jobs. Tailor it to what you need, however, this is what I think you should be considering to some capacity. And this is also what I use. The first pillar, we're starting strong with the snack and stare. You're going to get yourself a snack and you're going to sit on the lounge or you're going to sit on the bed, you're going to stare at a wall, you're going to stare at, hopefully not a TV, ideally out a window. Even better if you're getting a bit of like sunlight in your eyes, awesome. You're going to take a snack for a little bit of energy. This is also a hack if you're someone who struggles with maybe binge eating or something along those lines, not letting yourself get super hungry into the night where you start getting more and more tired, your tolerance is less and less and then you risk emotional eating. You're having a little snack, something to tie you over, something to give you some energy so that you're not rotting for the rest of the afternoon. And your body's going to love a little bit of fuel and a little bit of regulation. Sit down for a minute. Once you've done that, we're going into movement. Second pillar is movement. Go and move your body. Again, I've said this before, I don't care what it is. I don't even call movement exercise, I call it movement. You can stretch, you can go for a 10 minute walk. You could literally walk around the backyard, okay? I just want you to get some movement in. You need to dump some adrenaline from the day. It is going to help your sleep, it is going to help your energy, it is going to help your mood, so, so much. Our body helps us regulate our emotions. Move your body just a little. And if you need podcasts, music, I'm not going to be the police of do it with no headphones. Do what works for you. Third pillar, consider your space. I wanted to call it tidy your space, but I also know that some people work really, really demanding jobs and this isn't always possible. Ideally, just have a quick look at your space, a quick little movement. What can you tidy that is going to give your brain a little bit of dopamine, a little bit of a tick of dopamine and also set you up for the next day in a little bit of a better way. I like when people say like the night shift or the closing shift. I really like having a cleaner space of a nighttime, it helps me, but I also understand everyone's different as well. And this could be like three things, like maybe you put your bag away, you wipe down the kitchen bench. Cool, beautiful. You're doing something. That little something is better than nothing. Your last pillar for the night is enjoyment. Have a laugh. I really want people to have a laugh, especially if you work a heavier job or a really tiring job. You might pop on something on TV, pop something that you can actually laugh at, like maybe something for Googlebox or something. Something funny where you can have a little laugh. You don't really need anything heavy after a heavy day, your brain doesn't really like it. It's going to be really good for you to like actually physically laugh. It's going to be good to have a little smile, it's going to help to take you out of any heaviness from the day. It's just good for us. Throughout the week, I think those weeknights can get so repetitive. Bringing in things that can bring us joy is really, really helpful. It could also be a funny podcast or something like that or something you really enjoy, maybe it's like a game of some sort. Amazing. I don't want it to be too strenuous for you and I've also left out social connection because I think a lot of people socially connect throughout their job and sometimes after work you don't have capacity for social connection. That is okay. I'm totally cool with that. But I think allowing yourself to have a little laugh at something at the end of the night, a book, I don't know, that's going to help massively. My big disclaimer is that I know that if you're a parent, this isn't going to always look like this. I totally get it. But the idea of these four pillars is that you're able to do them in a pretty quick amount of time. So the snack and stare might be 10 minutes, the movement might be 10 minutes, the tidy might be 10 minutes, the laugh might be 10 minutes. There's 40 minutes, that's probably too much time as I've said it. So maybe it's 5 minutes or 2 minutes each, okay? But it's the idea that you're being intentional with the time and that really all of these things are leaning in on hacking your dopamine just a little bit, okay? It's helping with emotional regulation, it's helping with your nervous system. That's what you need to have a good sleep, that's what you need to feel refreshed for the next day. It's also making a bit of meaning of those nights because I know sometimes when you work, the day just goes and it feels like it's the same groundhog day over and over. I hope this helps, let me know if you use it and let me know if it works.
