There’s often lots of discussion about morning and nighttime routines to include in your life. But afternoon habits can create a routine that does everything from genuinely energizing you to offering enough moments of self-care. In addition, afternoon habits can be beneficial for breaking up the workday into much more manageable chunks. Taking a total mental break from the day and doing something other than sitting around is just what your brain needs to reset itself. So next time you’re feeling that way, try adding one (or a few!) of these brilliant, energizing afternoon habits into your day.
1. Try a grounding technique.
Grounding techniques can help switch off that “fight, flight, or freeze” portion of the brain. These instincts often kick in regarding anxiety, panic disorders, and PTSD. But feeling disconnected can apply to other conditions, too, such as depression, which can make one think fuzzy and cut off from reality. Philidor adds that these methods can help anyone, saying, “Grounding techniques can be used for day-to-day stressors. Anyone can benefit from these.” so try breathing, stretching, or exceeding.
2. Take a nap organization break.
Even just a 30-minute nap can help improve your motor skills and sense of attention. Taking a short nap every day helps lower stress throughout the body and anxiety, sustaining a healthy heart. Naps can be great for maintaining a health mood, especially if you did not get enough sleep the night before. Getting in some extra rest may even help to elevate your mood and provide you with a sense of vitality. A quick afternoon nap may also be much better than an afternoon coffee, because caffeine can get in the way of a full night’s sleep.
3. Take a virtual workout class.
There is a wide variety of routines, including yoga, cardio, and strength training, are available at right your fingertips. Viewers can easily watch a 30-minute daily routine or even push themselves to the 60-minute mark and beyond, depending on their fitness level. Some people dislike the gym atmosphere. So virtual fitness provides access to allows participants to feel comfortable and take things at their own pace. All this content can be accessed through the internet and streamed to computers, smartphones, and TVs, which gives you the option to work out from anywhere.
4. Listen to music that matches your mood.
We all have that one song that can shift our mood instantly. And scientists have proven the connection between music and your mood, which can create dopamine to release and help guard off depression. So make a playlist with your favorite songs so the next time you start to feel down, you have some mood-boosters on your phone. Extra points if you sing along or dance to the music stimulate the release of endorphins, the body’s ‘happy’ chemical.
5. Showing gratitude can go a long way.
Expressing your love or gratitude for someone or something can help with the emotional ordinance of your wellbeing. It calls you to think about all the good things in your life. It redirects your focus to something meaningful and reminds you of the bigger picture beyond whatever boredom, disorder, or frustration is happening throughout the day. Gratitude has been shown to potentially enhance wellbeing, happiness, life satisfaction, mood, grateful disposition, positive affect, depression, optimism, and quality of relationships. You don’t necessarily have to make an extravagant gesture of love to show your gratitude. Simply sending a loved one a text to tell them how much you appreciate them, or even writing a thinking-of-you card to a friend, possibly will do the trick.