Do you often come home from a long day at work, with your mind still buzzing from the days activities? Do you find that even though you are at home, some of the office stress has snuck in with you? Maybe a long daily commute home leaves you tired, wired and a bit frazzled?

After a recent career move, resulting in a greater responsibility, I found myself coming home every day still feeling stressed and under pressure - not good for me, not good for my girlfriend. I figured there had to be some simple ways to trigger a more relaxed state of mind when I came home.

5 simple steps to minimizing work-related stress when you arrive home:

1.  Stay organized at work - Track your priorities, manage your tasks, write down your To-dos… The topic of managing yourself at work is far too long to get into here, but by doing so, you are clearing your mind of all the distractions from work, making it easier to disconnect when you get home.
2. Enjoy your commute - Whether you are travelling by car, train or bike - use the time to relax a bit; get some fresh air, listen to some music, enjoy the scenery (if you can) and use your commute home to rid yourself of some of that stress.
3. Look forward to getting home - If you’re dreading getting home then you will just be exacerbating your stress levels; if you know that your home is going to be neat, tidy and organized; that your evening will be pleasant and relaxing and that you can forget about work for a while, you will be re-focussing your energy on a more positive experience, and reducing work-related stress.
4. Disconnect - A difficult thing to do in the days of BlackBerries, remote email and corporate mobile phones is to simply disconnect yourself from your work communications - switch them all off and enjoy a bit of peace. The likelihood of you being needed for something that can’t wait till tomorrow is realistically quite small, so give yourself and your family a break!
5. Use an Anti-stress Basket - The main tip I implemented was to put a simple basket on my shoe rack, just inside my front door. On this basket I put an “Anti-Stress Basket” label, and in it I keep a small tear-off pad and a pen. Every day when I come in, I see this basket (a strong visual reminder) and remember not to be stressed; If there is anything that is particularly bothering me, I’ll write it on a bit of paper and chuck it in the basket; lastly, I’ll take a few deep breaths and continue indoors. Bonus Tip: It’s very enjoyable to empty the basket into the bin once a week and throw out your stress for good!