Dragging work stress through the front door feels exhausting. One minute you’re answering emails in your head while making dinner, the next you’re snapping at loved ones or lying awake replaying tomorrow’s to-dos.
It’s no wonder your shoulders ache and your mind is constantly racing.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can learn how to leave work stress at work with a few practical shifts. We’ll show you how to stop thinking about work at home with strategies such as:
- Define Clear Start and End Times
- Turn Off Notifications After Hours
- Communicate Limits With Your Team
- Create a Transition Ritual After Work
- Use Magnesium Soaks to Relax the Body and Mind
- Other Body-Based Practices
- Reframe Negative Thinking
- Practice Mindfulness or Meditation
- Use Journaling to “Park” Work Concerns Until Tomorrow
- Protect Time for Hobbies, Family, and Joy
- Prioritize Sleep as the Ultimate Stress Regulator
The best advice we have on leaving work at work, though, is to build a nightly self-care ritual that you can stick to - that’s where our stress relief bath soak formulas come into play.
Flewd Stresscare’s epsom salt substitute brings together the most bioavailable magnesium, vitamins, and soothing botanicals to turn stress and chaos into calm and restoration. Try one tonight and actually feel the day leave your body!
“Let me tell you I am a customer for life! I can tell a huge difference and they nearly instantly calm me down even if I’m on the verge of a panic attack. I even compared to some other bath soaks or just foaming bubble bath and even the nice bath soaks don’t compare.” - Erin
“Since discovering Flewd soaks, I have been impressed by the impact of the products. I do notice the difference in potency between regular Epsom salt and Flewd salts. Thank you!” - Jeanne
“I have been using magnesium soaks for the last 10 to 15 years. I’ve never experienced one this good. Give it the full 15 minutes in a hot bath before bedtime and experience a great night of sleep. It’s pricey but worth it.” - Mary
Why Leaving Work at Work is So Important
You might think it’s normal to bring work home with you, and unfortunately, it is in today’s age. Slack notifications chime at all hours of the day, and emails continuously pile up. That doesn’t make it okay, though.
Work stress following you home chips away at your health, relationships, and sense of balance. Your body keeps producing stress hormones long after the workday ends, which can leave you restless at night and groggy the next morning.
This cycle drains your energy and makes it harder to focus, creating a loop that’s tough to break. You stress all evening, so you sleep poorly, and then you perform poorly at work the next day because you didn’t get the rest you need - and the chaos continues.
Leaving work at work is more than a productivity hack. It’s a form of self-preservation. You give your brain space to recover and your nervous system time to reset when you draw clear boundaries. That recovery window is where you restore patience, creativity, and resilience.
In this sense, learning how to stop thinking about work at work actually makes you a better employee! But more importantly than all else, it protects your personal life. Instead of snapping at family or zoning out with constant work thoughts, you can show up fully for the people and activities that recharge you.
Easier said than done? Maybe. But we’ll show you how to leave work stress at work below!
How to Leave Work Stress at Work for a Healthier Work-Life Balance
Bringing work home in your head is just as draining as bringing home an overflowing inbox. You need to break that cycle of late-night overthinking and constant tension with tools that work with both your brain and your body.
So, try these practical, science-backed ways to leave work stress at work and reclaim your evenings once again!
Define Clear Start and End Times
Work can creep into every hour of the day if you don’t have clear boundaries in place. Set start and finish times, and actually stick to them! This tells your brain when it’s time to engage and when it’s time to step away.
Consistency here will help regulate stress hormones and create a structure that protects your personal time. Try scheduling a hard stop the way you would a meeting. Treat it as non-negotiable.
Turn Off Notifications After Hours
Even the faint buzz of a phone can pull you back into “work mode.” Constant alerts keep your nervous system in a state of low-level vigilance.
Turning off email or Slack notifications outside of work hours is one of the simplest ways to create mental space. We know that for certain people, fully disconnecting isn’t an option. You can set “VIP” alerts only for emergencies. Everything else can wait till the morning.
Communicate Limits With Your Team
Boundaries are much easier to keep when everyone around you knows them. Be upfront about your availability after hours. For example: “I don’t check email past 5 pm, but if something’s urgent, call me.” Communication prevents guilt and helps coworkers respect your personal time.
Create a Transition Ritual After Work
Going straight from spreadsheets to dinner rarely works. Your brain needs a buffer to shift gears. A transition ritual might involve an hour in the gym, a short walk with your dog/family, taking a shower, or playing your favorite song on the commute home.
There are no right or wrong answers here. You just need to have a way to mark the end of the workday so your nervous system knows it’s safe to relax. Think of it as clocking out for your mind.
Use Magnesium Soaks to Relax the Body and Mind
Stress rarely stays in your brain. It has a way of showing up as tight muscles, headaches, and racing thoughts. That’s where magnesium comes in. This mineral plays a big role in calming the nervous system and relaxing tense muscles.
Stress feels heavier and harder to shake when your magnesium levels dip. The problem is, magnesium absorbs very poorly through oral methods - like pills and powders. That’s why you should incorporate our magnesium bath soak formulas as part of your after-work ritual.
Flewd Stresscare is your trusted source for bath soaks that go beyond relaxation. They actually refuel your body with stress-fighting nutrients, including the best magnesium for stress (magnesium chloride). Here’s a look at a few popular formulas:
- Insomnia Ending: combines Vitamin A, Vitamin E, and plant-derived L-carnitine to restore calm and prep your body for restful sleep.
- Sads Smashing: infused with nootropic lithium and B vitamins to lift low moods.
- Anxiety Destroying: built with zinc and a full B-complex to calm racing thoughts.
- Ache Erasing: packed with Vitamin C, Vitamin D, and Omega-3s to unknot tight muscles.
Each has its own unique scent profile, too - but they all share the common trait of supporting your body and mind with the nutrients you need to keep stress and its harmful effects at bay for up to 5 days!
Simply add one pouch to warm water, soak for 20 minutes, and give yourself permission to fully unwind. Most people feel lighter and calmer within hours, and the effects last for days. Do this 3-4 times a week!
Other Body-Based Practices
Sometimes stress lingers because your body hasn’t had a chance to physically release it. Movement-based practices like yoga, tai chi, or even a quick stretch routine can reset tension patterns.
Massage and foam rolling can also target areas where stress tends to settle, like the shoulders and neck. Our blog has more tips on how to relieve stress in shoulders.
Reframe Negative Thinking
Your body might be off the clock, but stress won’t go anywhere if your thoughts are replaying that awkward meeting or tomorrow’s deadlines. Reframing means catching unhelpful thoughts and spinning them into something less heavy.
For instance, “I’ll never get it all done” becomes “I handled today’s tasks and tomorrow has its own space.” This simple mental shift can calm the spiral.
Practice Mindfulness or Meditation
Mindfulness means noticing where your attention is and gently redirecting it. Meditation, deep breathing, or guided relaxation apps can also help lower cortisol levels and train your brain not to get hooked by stress loops. Just five minutes can be enough to reset.
Use Journaling to “Park” Work Concerns Until Tomorrow
A racing mind often clings to tasks and worries because it fears forgetting them. You just need to do a brain dump so you can let go! Write down (or type out) what’s unfinished, what you’re worried about, and one clear priority for tomorrow. Then, give yourself permission to let it go.
Protect Time for Hobbies, Family, and Joy
Downtime is supposed to be nourishing, not another to-do list. Make room for activities that make you feel alive. That could be reading, cooking, gardening, or hanging out with friends. Protect this time just like you would a work meeting. Joy is an antidote for stress!
Prioritize Sleep as the Ultimate Stress Regulator
Sleep is when your body clears stress hormones and resets emotional regulation. Skimping on it makes every stressor feel bigger. Stick to consistent bedtimes, limit screens late at night, and create a wind-down routine that signals to your body it’s time to rest. That might include our Insomnia Ending soak!
What to Do When Work Stress Becomes Unmanageable
Even with these tips on how to leave work stress at work, it’s all too common that stress floods over and it all starts to feel a little bit unbearable.
When deadlines pile up, tension won’t leave your body, and even small tasks feel impossible, that’s a sign your usual coping tools aren’t enough. At that point, you need to step back and rethink your approach.
Recognize the Red Flags
If you’re losing sleep, snapping at loved ones, or feeling physically sick from stress, that’s your body waving a red flag. Ignoring those signals only makes recovery harder later. Naming what’s happening is the first step toward regaining control.
Break the Cycle With Immediate Relief
There might come a time when stress feels unmanageable, and this calls for an immediate reset. Step outside for air, practice deep breathing, or do a short body scan to notice where tension is stored.
Seek Support Instead of Powering Through
Talking with someone, be it a friend, mentor, therapist, or even your superior at work, helps pull you out of the echo chamber in your head.
So many employees are afraid to talk to their boss about feeling overwhelmed because they think they’re going to get fired. The truth is, though, your boss probably isn’t as evil as you’re making them out to be! They might be able to help you come up with a solution, whether it’s offloading some of your workload to someone else or finding a better role for you.
Prioritize Rest and Recovery
Sleep, nutrition, and recovery practices are non-negotiable for keeping the harmful effects of work stress at bay. Built-in downtime, whether that’s journaling, movement, or magnesium replenishment through a soak, restores balance so you can face challenges with a clearer mind.
You can’t just let it pile up, because it’s only going to get worse - to the point where life forces you to make a change. Burnout is real. And how long does it take to recover from burnout? Sometimes, weeks or months. So, don’t let that happen to you. Start leaving work at work!
Parting Thoughts on How to Stop Thinking About Work at Home
And there you have it, how to stop thinking about work at home and reclaim your evenings. It’s as simple as setting boundaries (and sticking to them), finding a wind-down ritual that works, and making sure you’re nourishing your body and mind with plenty of deep, restorative rest.
Our blog has additional advice on how to increase stress tolerance so you can be more resilient. But these tips on how to leave work stress at work should help you minimize sources of stress in the meantime.
So, trade your after-hours tension for deep calm with Flewd Stresscare. End your day the right way by sinking into a soak and letting stress clock out!
Frequently asked questions
What are 5 signs of work-related stress?
Fatigue, irritability, muscle tension, sleep problems, and difficulty concentrating are all common signs you’re stressed from work. They build gradually, so noticing patterns early helps you get a grip on the issue.
How not to bring work stress home?
Set clear end-of-day boundaries, turn off notifications, and use rituals such as exercise, journaling, or a stress-relief soak. Our guide on how to leave work stress at work has more specific tips.
Why is my work stress getting too much?
There’s a chance your daily demands outweigh your resources. You can only handle so much. Whether it’s too much workload, poor boundaries, or lack of recovery time, you need to make sure you’re being realistic with what is possible.
How to go on stress leave from work?
Start by visiting a doctor who can document your condition and recommend time off. Once you have medical backing, you can request leave under your employer’s policies or legal protections like FMLA.
