Getting rid of work stress!

Apologies to all you beauty followers out there but todays post is going to be more well-being related.  The further I progress in my job the more I seem to literally live and breathe it.  I vaguely remember a time where work was that thing I did in the middle of my day to earn some cash and my life didn’t really start until 5pm where I would walk out the door and not give it another thought until the next morning.  Nowadays it seems that my job is the majority of my existence (mental and physical) and my social life is the few hours on a Saturday evening where I allow myself a couple of glasses of wine and a takeaway. 

So recently I’ve been trying to find ways of really giving myself some mental switch off to the stresses of my work and I’ve found exercise, in particular, mountain biking is the best way to forget about anything that is worrying me.  Ok, I realise it is not the most glamorous physical activity and it quite often involves getting muddy, dusty, dirty and generally a bit red-faced (well it does if you are me!!), but it is also great exercise and a chance to be out in the fresh air with some great scenery. 

I’ve never been one to exercise purely for the sake of getting fit, there has to be something else to it either some kind of challenge or skill involved that takes my mind off the pain of exercising.  To me there is nothing worse than running endlessly on a treadmill with only the pain in your chest and the ache in your legs to think about.  But mountain biking isn’t like that.  Yes, there are definitely moments of aching legs and breathlessness but these are interspersed with fun and challenging downhill sections that will certainly take your mind off the exercise element and make you focus on not hitting that huge log!

For me one of the best things about biking is the complete mental switch off.  If, like me, you have a full on job the best form of relaxation is to completely switch off mentally and not think about it, even if it’s just for a few hours.  Trust me, when you are concentrating on avoiding roots, stones and logs the last thing you will be thinking about is that email you forgot to reply to or what is on your endless to-do list the next day.

Most of all its just great exercise which makes you feel better all round.  I am never more motivated than when I have been for a good ride and as the autumn draws closer I am in favour of anything that gives me a more positive mental attitude. 

 

Have you got any really good tips for getting rid of work stress?  Leave a comment below.