26-03-2025
Mentally Clocking Out: The Go-To Reset When Your Mind Is Still Working
The go-to reset when you've called it quits, but your mind hasn't clocked out.
Inspired by Apple TV+'s Severance--where employees undergo a medical procedure to erase memories of their job outside of work--a new Zety survey shows a striking real-world parallel in which 60% of U.S. workers believe maintaining a separate 'work identity' is necessary for career success. And 35% say they would 'sever' their work and personal selves in real life if given the option. The idea of separating work and personal life isn't just a science fiction concept—mentally clocking out is a daily challenge for many of us.
Clocked out, but your mind is still at work? National Stress Awareness month is coming in April—the perfect time to pay attention to how your mind carries work stress into your personal life after you've called it quits.
It's so easy for workday stress to continue stalking you long after you've left your work desk. You're still on the clock, ruminating about work, and you're not getting paid for it. What's wrong with this picture? Your thoughts are floating off into the wild blue yonder. You might replay a disagreement you had with your boss or wonder how you'll meet a tight deadline. The after-hours worry can morph into surging stress about unpaid bills or figuring how to make ends meet in the 2025 turbulent economy.
The go-to ritual to reset your mind after work is a simple type of mindful meditation that can move you up the career ladder faster and farther. Present moment awareness enables you to mentally clock out in the brief time it takes to read this article. Short present-moment awareness can unwind stress, reset your brain, clear your head and raise your energy level.
The goal of present moment awareness is not to zone out, empty your thoughts, withdraw from the world or get high on life. Present moment awareness is a tool to notice instead of think the habitual thoughts of your mind, watch how your thoughts routinely create stress and how you can get them to relax.
Start with simply focusing on an object around you and paying attention to it in the present moment for one minute. Suppose you choose a painting. Notice the size of the painting then notice the myriad of colors and shapes in the painting. Your thoughts may distract you. That's actually part of the meditation process.
So, just notice the thoughts that pop up, then let go of control, judgment and trying too hard and simply ease back into the exercise by observing the object again with curiosity instead of judgment—just as you would inspect a blemish on your hand. Now, notice any body sensations you're having. After one minute, if you're like most people, you feel calmer and more clear-minded.
Next, with eyes open or shut, focus on what you hear for one minute, and see how many different sounds you can identify. You might notice the heating or air conditioning system, traffic off in the distance, a siren, voices from other areas in the building, an airplane, the ticking of a clock or your own gurgling stomach. If your thoughts distract you, simply notice that they are sidetracking you, let that be okay and focus back on the sounds.
After one minute, instead of trying to remember the sounds, bring your attention inside your body and notice if you're calmer and more clearheaded. Maybe your muscles are looser, your heart rate slower, your breathing shallower.
These two exercises are samples of how paying attention in the present moment sharpens your awareness, and you didn't effort to calm or clear your mind. It happened automatically as a consequence of bringing your mind into the present and focusing on sights or sounds. You weren't thinking of the heated disagreement with your boss or the tight deadline looming, and both exercises took only two minutes.
Now, take your present moment awareness inside and focus on your breath. Sit in a comfortable place in a relaxed position. Breathe in through your nose and out through the mouth, focusing on each inhalation and exhalation. Follow your breath through to a full cycle from the beginning when the lungs are full, back down to when they're empty. Then repeat the cycle, mindfully watching your breath.
Thoughts might arise in the form of judgment. You could wonder if you're doing it right, thinking about unfinished work tasks or debating if the meditation is even worth your time. Simply allow the thoughts to arise and observe them with open-heartedness and gently bring your attention back and focus on the breath.
Each time your attention strays from the breath (and it will), simply bring awareness back to it. If you get caught in a chain of thoughts, gently step out of the thought stream, then come back to the sensations of your breath. After one minute, notice how much calmer and more connected you are to the present moment.
You don't have to undergo a medical procedure to sever your thoughts from work. During the workflow of your day, you can listen to sounds or tune into body sensations during Zoom meetings, while returning emails or meeting deadlines, walking to the printer or waiting for a meeting to start.
At the end of the day, instead of mentally flipping through previous stressful events, start clocking out by paying attention to the sensations of your feet against the ground or the feeling of the open sky or sights and sounds around you. Stuck in traffic or on a train after a stressful workday, try mentally clocking out by focusing on your in-breath through your nose and out-breath through your mouth.
Once you're aware of work thoughts wandering into the past (the boss you had the disagreement with) or future (what if my job's on the chopping block), gently bring them back to the present. You know you're mentally clocking out when your mind is still, you feel relaxed and rested and you have a calmer approach to stress. In the long term, you know mentally clocking out is working when you're less reactive to job stressors, worry less and are more grounded in the here-and-now.
