Lately, I Need to Decompress and Here’s Why

As an adult who’s currently in this season of working, I’ve observed that sometimes we need to decompress. Getting older and realizing how much we use our bodies, we are bound to get exhausted one way or another. Some will say that that’s just apart of life while others will just try to make the best of it.

I’ve spent the last seven months working at a clothing department store and I genuinely love my job. I’m either packing orders, processing returns, and doing everyday customer service interactions. I’ve constantly been on the go almost all day everyday since the holiday season.

But let’s be honest: anyone who has worked in customer services knows that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. While I’m able to handle some tough situations pretty well, there are days where a single interaction can turn my day upside down. Working in the environment that I’m in taught me something about myself— my body and mind absolutely needs to decompress.

As I’m being observant with my life and how I’m adulting, I realize how we adapt to where we are. You could be in college studying for a test that is more than half your grade. Or working that ideal nine to five with the nice office, but realized how much is needed of you.

Or, maybe you’re just like me and working wasn’t exactly what you planned on your life map. Except you’re alright with making it work. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the job, it’s quite fun. But sometimes it is the people or a number of factors that cause our body to build tension.

I think I’ve finally found the answer I wanted to know this whole time. As I’m getting older, I wanted to understand why we get burnt out. Why is my body always exhausted or why does my mood change? One minute, I’m in a good mood and one interaction makes me want to lay down and calm down my thoughts. 

My body is asking for me to simply just rest.

What Does it Mean to Decompress?

To decompress, it means to help your body avoid burnout and managing stress by relaxing and unwinding any built-up tension. How the tension is created is when it’s caused by psychological stress and anxiety. This is common from working, studying, people, financial issues, or any other factors.

Working in a hectic, high pressure, or chaotic environment causes our bodies to create the tension that affects us physically. From getting headaches to feeling a sense of uneasiness, our bodies are no longer calm. I know for me, it messes up my day to day activity. Burnout begins to grow, our sleep becomes troubled, and other effects that come from when we don’t relax properly.

I want to research and look more into this because I think this is what a lot of people go through. We work, move through life,  and don’t realize that our body is responding to the environment that we are in. No matter where we are, certain things happen and it takes a toll on us physically and mentally.

I’m sure you know and probably could think right now your external or internal factor that stresses you out. I’ll tell you mine and how I identified it. 

My Experience with Burnout Effects

Coming from my previous job as a barista, I used to always feel as though I had to make drinks quickly or ensure customers were taken care of. Our store was always crowded and the peak never seemed to go down. Tickets at the bar you were assigned could be up to fifteen while more could come in and you had to keep up. As much as I loved my time doing that, it was surely the amount of burnout I gained. Mainly from being in a chaotic building and no time to actually breathe.

Even on my breaks, one in which I still remember, I was thinking about a lady that didn’t like how she couldn’t taste her vanilla after there were eight pumps in there and how I had to remake it. For a whole thirty minutes, I was thinking about my job and how I should do better. Then I used more time to save myself mentally for what’s to come.

Not only was it my old job, but I do the same with my current job where the moment keeps replaying in my head on how a customer yelled at me for a manager. It makes my heart race and I bring it home to vent out, just for me to still not feel better.

Then there’s other factors I stress about as a twenty-something which is natural and nothing wrong with that. I’m always thinking about if what I’m doing is the best, should I go back to school? Or do I need a second job to catch up on my bills? All in my mind while I’m trying to not stress as it is, haha!

Would I be open to going back to working as a barista? Absolutely! I feel like now that I’m very socially aware and wanting to set my boundaries, I’d know where to draw the line.

How Do I Plan to Decompress from Work

I genuinely think that burnout is real. The only reason why I’m saying that is because my body still has the ongoing effects. As much as I would love to work on content creation the way I know I can, it’s simply hard to find the energy. I want to try to decompress and unwind so that I can see if my body and mind improves.

Oddly, this feels like a science project I did in middle school, which is why I’m curious about the outcome. I’ve reflected on how I am everyday, my work schedule, and where I could make changes to relax and unwind. Some of the things I plan to do are easy and others may take more time.

I’m willing to put in the effort because I want to do work right now as I’m adulting. Not feel drained or be to prepare myself for something to come. Who wants to be on edge in a place that you currently are in? No matter the season that you’re in your life, we should be more careful of ourselves.

Here are a few ways I’m learning now as to how I’ll decompress from work.

Toning Down the Mask and Over-exterting Myself

I’ve always been the person who says “yes.” Whether it’s covering a shift or staying late, I’ve worn a mask of the “perfect, tireless employee”. I’ve noticed this pattern with myself since I started this job. But lately, I’ve realized how this mask I wear is a form of people-pleasing. This is something I struggled with that dates back to when it started in middle school. By constantly trying to be who everyone else needs me to be, I’ve been over extending myself and putting myself last. 

I remember earlier this year, someone called out. I didn’t feel like going in and I was literally stressing on how my manager would see me if I said no. My mom’s advice for me to balance that is to say no this time and help out the next. After saying no and going to work the next day, I had learnt the sad reality. Even if you say no, they’ll still find someone to do it, if not themselves. The world will still turn and work will still get done.

Taking off the mask and, hopefully, removing the mask is my goal for life. To do that, I need to set boundaries and make sure I have something for myself. It isn’t about becoming a mean person, but actually being me.

This mask I’ve developed is because of my lack of resting. It’s something I know I need to work on because I’m not being myself because of this anxiety and effects of burnout. I’ll definitely research this more, but this is something I proactively do every single day. 

Create a Curated Weekly Self-Care Routine to Decompress

Now, I used to be very cynical when it came to the “self-care” movement once I felt like it was mainly about money. To be honest, I liked the idea of seeing the importance of taking care of yourself. I know for me, it’s something I lack for sure and want to get back to myself. 

The self-care routine I ideally would like to try is one I’d create specifically for me and my needs. I’ve identified my problem, which is how can I decompress my body? My solution is finding ways to calm my mind and let my inner being just breathe.  

A routine to me is a good way of practicing and building habits on a regular basis. If I see where my tension is being formed, how can I relieve such stress? If I can come home from work and have a particular way of unwinding, I’m making the effort to make that change. 

Getting Back in Old Hobbies and Learning New Ones

When I was looking for ways to decompress, I found out that many suggestions were to do a hobby. This goes back on what I said previously about the time thing. The times I was going in or being on the clock longer, where in the rest of the day am I going to do a hobby. 

This is how I knew I needed to begin to decompress because I can’t look forward to writing or crochet on an off day. I can still do those things after work if I just begin picking it up to center my mind. Just the idea of the hobby excites me because it’s like a refocus exercise. I wrote another blog post on where I was wanting to start a novel project. Guess what? I haven’t even written one word!

I even bought some yarn and I did crochet one little bow, but I haven’t picked it back up because of work. Or when my mind trails and my body longs to just lay down and watch some Netflix series. This is one thing I know I can start doing because it’s not like I have things at home I planned to use anyways. 

Taking Care of my Body and Resting

Now this is one I’m very guilty of when I was researching ways to decompress. The negative effects of not unwinding and unmanaged stress is feeling drained, emotionally numb, not having the motivation to do physical activities. It’s not funny, but I seriously laugh at the thought that I haven’t been physically active for almost five years now. 

When I was younger, I used to be so physically active and in better shape than I am now. From stretching to doing exercise at home, I had a routine that I did even if it was ten minutes. Now I’m not going to say that I felt different then because I wasn’t mentally where I am now being a young teen. 

Seeing the effects of how I’m not being active, I lay down and am not motivated to do anything. Even having a Pinterest board full of all these easy workouts, but can’t bring myself to do them. The conclusion came to mind when I think that it’s because I’m so tired from work as to why I don’t exercise.

I need to start being accountable with my physical activity. I may do a lot of walking at work, but I too need to stretch or even do pilates. This is something I’ve had on a notepad I feel like for forever now because I know the benefits of keeping your body in shape. From needing to take my vitamins to not stress eating, my body is my temple so I must take care of it!

Have a Much Needed Quiet Time

Last but not least, I also observed that working in retail has caused my body to become “flight or fight.” I’m always on edge when I’m working and it’s because of small things. For example, I’ve grown very sensitive to noise and it’s because my job is very reliant on radio. Throughout the day, there’s always the constant reminder every fifteen minutes on trying to reach a goal. It stresses me out at times and even when I’m not the register, I have to hear the same message every single day.

I need quiet time and even though the store may be dead making it quiet, the environment isn’t peaceful. Once I get home, there’s still some noise that makes me very anxious and hard to breathe. It’s not good, especially when my family is existing and I don’t want them to change. 

I’m going to figure out what quiet time is for me and how I can use that to decompress. Maybe with taking a nice shower and I can hear the stream of water pouring. Or maybe Bible studying with God to help ease down for a little bit. Taking some time to myself even if it’s an hour before bed is crucial and something I’m definitely going to try.

Start of Decompression 101

If you made it this far, I absolutely am so grateful to you! This is more than trying to do something just to do it because I feel this is a serious issue for me. I feel like I need to reset all together and get my life back on track. Even though where I am in my life is how I’m currently living, I can still put forth the effort to take care of myself.

I’ll be back to update you all and share my progress along the way. From what I’ll learn about myself and if some things work for me or not! This is definitely something I can’t wait to see the result of. Take care and have a great day/evening/afternoon!