After a long and demanding week, the weekend is supposed to be your time to breathe, rest and do things that have nothing to do with deadlines, meetings or unanswered emails. Yet for many people, switching off from work can be surprisingly difficult.

You may have left the office on Friday, but your mind is still thinking about Monday’s meeting, the email you forgot to answer or the task that did not get finished. Research into workplace recovery describes this ability to mentally disconnect from work as “psychological detachment”, and studies have linked better detachment during leisure time with improved recovery and wellbeing.

If work has been particularly stressful lately, here are a few simple ways to make your weekend feel like an actual break.

Create a clear end to your work week

Before you officially log off, spend a few minutes writing down what still needs to be done. Make a short list of unfinished tasks and decide when you will deal with them next.

This can help prevent your brain from repeatedly reminding you about everything that still needs your attention.

Research has found that unfinished work can make it harder to psychologically detach during the weekend. Simply having a clear plan for when those tasks will be addressed can make it easier to put them aside temporarily.

Once you have finished, close the laptop, silence work notifications and give yourself permission to stop working.

Don’t make your weekend another to-do list

There is a difference between having plans and filling every available hour.

You do not need to wake up on Saturday with a long list of errands, social commitments, household chores and activities simply because you have two days off. If your week has been exhausting, leaving some unstructured time in your weekend can be part of your recovery.

Research on weekend recovery highlights relaxation and psychological detachment as important experiences when recovering from work stress.

That could mean watching your favourite show, sitting outside with a cup of coffee, reading, taking a long bath or simply doing absolutely nothing for a while.

Get outside

A change of environment can help create some distance from your normal work routine.

Go for a walk, visit a park, take your children somewhere outdoors, head to the beach or simply spend some time in your neighbourhood without rushing from one appointment to another.

If exercise is something you enjoy, you could also use the weekend for a run, cycle, hike or gym session. Just remember that exercise does not have to become another performance target. The goal is to move in a way that feels good and gives you a break from sitting behind a desk.

Research suggests that weekend physical activity can be associated with improved mood, although the benefits appear to depend partly on factors such as psychological detachment and sleep.

Put some distance between yourself and your phone

Your phone can make it difficult to tell your brain that work is over.

You do not necessarily have to switch it off for the entire weekend. Instead, consider muting work-related notifications, removing your work email from your home screen or deciding that you will only check messages at a specific time, if your job requires some weekend availability.

Constantly seeing emails and work messages can keep your attention tied to work even when you are physically at home.

If possible, create at least a few hours each weekend when you are not checking anything work-related.

Do something that has nothing to do with work

One of the recovery experiences identified by researchers is mastery, which involves doing something that gives you a sense of achievement outside your job.

This could be learning a new recipe, gardening, painting, baking, trying a new workout, reading a book or working on a hobby.

The point is not to be productive. It is to remind yourself that your identity and your time extend beyond your job.

Spend time with people who make you feel good

Work stress can consume so much mental space that you forget to connect with the people around you.

Make time for family or friends without turning the entire conversation into a discussion about work. Have lunch together, take a walk, play with the kids, visit someone you have not seen in a while or simply sit and chat.

If you do need to talk about a difficult week, give yourself space to do that, but try not to let work become the only subject of your weekend.

Protect your sleep

A late Friday night might feel like the perfect way to celebrate the end of the week, but catching up on rest should also be part of your weekend recovery.

Try to give yourself enough time to sleep and avoid turning Sunday night into a late-night work session. Research has linked psychological detachment from work with aspects of weekend sleep, while newer research continues to examine how different patterns of weekend detachment relate to fatigue and sleep impairment.

Most importantly, remember that you do not have to earn your rest.

The weekend does not have to be productive, impressive or packed with activities. Sometimes the most useful thing you can do after a stressful week is create enough space to breathe, reconnect with yourself and remember that work can wait until Monday.

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