The Power of Transition Time - Stephanie Rogers

October 21, 2015 Stephanie

If you are like most Americans, I am guessing your first 10-15 minutes home from work in the afternoons are quite chaotic and, on most days, lead to an even busier evening blur of events in which you don’t “come to” until sometime around 8:00 or 9:00PM. A lot of people I work with struggle with this – coming straight home from a stressful day and being thrust into an even busier night and never being able to “come down” from that work stress “high” we Americans spend far too much time operating in.

For most of them, this chaotic time also leads to mindless obsessive “uncontrollable” snacking upon entering their house, rummaging through the cabinets while making dinner and even late night snacking because they can barely remember what or how much they ate for dinner. I know I definitely use to struggle with all of this…I mean why not eat everything in my cabinet before dinner, am I right?

On top of all of that, this can also create a sense of frenzy, guilt and exhaustion in their lives and makes their weeknights just as, if not more, busy and stressful as their workdays. But what if there was a way to make your evenings much more relaxing and stress-free (even if you have a lot to get done)? What if you could actually eat a “normal” snack and then be happy waiting until dinner for your meal? What if you could get through all of your weeknight “to-do’s” without feeling like a crazy person and relying on sugar as fuel? And what if it only required, at the bare minimum, 5 minutes….would you be interested in hearing how?

Think about it, when you get home from work you are most likely stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed, anxious or a combination of the four. In all of those states, your body goes into “fight or flight” mode, which in this case means it starts to crave fast energy (a.k.a all the snacks in your house, your kids’ leftover lunch and that snack that somehow snuck home from work) fearing it will be forced to operate in the frenzied state for an unforeseen amount of time. What your body really needs in those first few moments home is an opportunity to come down from that work-stress high and the platform to be able to transition into a state of relaxation. Now I know this is easier said than done and that many of you, especially those of you with kiddos, have things that need to get done, but I’m confident if you can carve out even FIVE minutes to transition into “home mode”, it will be a game changer. No more handfuls of Captain Crunch and cookies!

So now you’re probably wondering, “what does this elusive “transition time” even look like?” Well I’m going to give you a few examples so you can see what I’m talking about – here we go:

Immediately go up to your room and change out of your work clothes into comfy clothes that make you feel cozy and relaxed.
Sit or lay down on your couch (without TV or distractions) with a 5 minutes timer (longer if you can) and concentrate on nothing but your breathing.
Make yourself a cup of tea (or whatever sounds refreshing at the time) and sit down in a comfy chair and slowly ENJOY it…ALL of it.
Keep a book next to your favorite spot and make a beeline for that chair as soon as you walk in. Set a 5-10 minute timer and allow yourself to get lost in the book.
Plan an activity that brings you joy to be done as SOON as you come home (paint your nails, write in your journal, scrapbook, flip through your favorite magazines, catch up on one of your favorite shows, etc). The key here is to make sure it is ENJOYABLE, not a “to-do”.
Take a hot shower or bath and allow yourself to stay in there as long as you need to relax.
Go for a leisurely walk or bike ride around your block.

It’s that easy. It doesn’t have to be a 20 minute ordeal. Simply starting with 5 minutes is good enough to do the trick. After your 5 minutes are up, take notice of how you feel. Do you feel more energized? Are you less anxious? Are you still craving all of the food in your house? (if you are, maybe you need to allow yourself to eat a snack before dinner – instead of rummaging, ask yourself what sounds good in that moment and mindfully eat it and then move on). Do your “to-do’s” seem less overwhelming? This may take a few days to truly start kicking in for you (depending on your daily stress levels), but it will happen for you! Why? Because when we start to ALLOW ourselves to relax and extend ourselves some self-love, our bodies take notice and start reacting positively almost immediately. You have all the power to change your state of being and this is one small step you can take to start living a less stressful life that you absolutely LOVE.

So I want to hear from you! POST BELOW – Is this something you struggle with? If so, what is ONE thing you can do this week when you get home to transition into the evening?