SimplyHired surveyed more than 1000 workers about how they relax after work. Their responses were correlated with job stress and job satisfaction. So, the results may give some indication of what relaxation methods are best for lowering stress and improving job satisfaction. The results were interesting.
Relaxation Activities that Correlate with High Job Satisfaction and Low Job Stress
- Talking with a family member
- Talking with a friend
- Taking a break from the Internet
These results demonstrate the value of family and friends. Also, it’s not a surprise that taking a break from the Internet can be beneficial. Meditating correlates with high job satisfaction but not as much with job stress.
Exercise and talking with your significant other can help lower job stress, but those activities have little connection with job satisfaction.
Relaxation Activities that Correlate with Low Job Satisfaction and High Job Stress
- Venting about the workday
- Napping
- Drinking alcohol
If you think about these three items, they aren’t surprising. Venting causes all the negative feelings of the day to resurface, which is not healthy. Frequency of venting probably matters. Venting often is worse than venting rarely. It is not surprising that alcohol is on the list because it is a depressant. Moderation is key. Napping can be associated with depression and lack of engagement. Napping can also affect the quality of night sleep.
Playing video games and looking at social media are related to low job satisfaction but don’t have a significant correlation with job stress. Recreational drugs correlate with high job stress but don’t significantly correlate with job satisfaction.
Relaxation Activity that Correlates with High Job Satisfaction and High Job Stress
- Volunteering
- Talking with a roommate
How could volunteering correlate with both high job satisfaction and high job stress? Perhaps participating in volunteer activities brings meaning to life which improves one’s outlook in all ways including job satisfaction. However, the amount of time spent on a volunteer activity may reduce time available for work, which leads to job stress. It seems that roommates don’t affect job stress as positively as family and friends.
Click below to view more on the SimplyHired survey:
https://blog.simplyhired.com/taking-the-edge-off-after-work/