If you live in the United States, then by the time you read this, you’ve likely done more eating, talking, emoting, and reading the room in the past week than you will the entire month of January. For many, Thanksgiving is the Super Bowl of socialization.
This spectacle is both fun and exhausting. And the latter is the reason we asked our audience a few weeks ago whether they get the day after Turkey Day off. More than half of you do, and that’s wonderful. But some said you’d like even more flexibility around big holidays—half days, remote options, extra hours to prep, care for family, or simply to avoid a snowstorm of out-of-office replies. Honestly, it’s hard to imagine spinning your wheels on projects that can’t move forward when there’s so much to manage at home.
Diving back into work after such a concentrated few days is stressful, too. One skill I had to grow into through my 20s and now 30s was recognizing my own limits and self-prescribing the correct form of recuperation. I’ve spent years mentally tugging at the threads of tiredness, irritability, frustration, joy, and contentment to figure out where each one leads. I find that the holidays are when I tug the hardest.
And since I know I’m not the only one tugging, I wanted to offer a few gentle, grounding activities to settle everyone’s nerves while we’re all still digesting Thanksgiving’s emotional multiverse and logging back into work. Not resolutions or productivity hacks—just small, absorbing ways to quiet your brain and find your way back to yourself after a week of broken routines and heavily underlined conversations.
Love what you're reading? From career growth to midday meditations, our email lineup delivers thoughtful insights, relatable data, and space to just be. Add InHerSight to your inbox today. (It's free!)
Here are a few you can try as you recalibrate:
If you feel anxious… Go somewhere quiet, and play a song like this one. Hum along. Harmonize if you can (or can’t!). Repeat as needed. For extra impact, hold an ice pack or a bag of frozen veggies—the humming and the cold both stimulate your vagus nerve, inviting your body to exit fight or flight.
If you feel overwhelmed or you’re overthinking… Do a focused activity. Sewing, coloring, journaling, doodling, origami, and other hands-on crafts trigger flow state, which calms your mind—a sensation I often describe as “turning my brain and clock off.” If you don’t have a hobby in mind, start by writing your signature on a piece of paper. Which letter is the prettiest? Can you make the other letters just as nice? Write your name again and again, giving each letter its moment in the sun.
If you feel lonely or deflated… Seek low stakes connections, like sending a tiny message—a meme, a photo, or even a small note—to a friend. I recommend looking up Reddit threads that align with your coziest interests just to read voices similar to your own. Some broad starter queries might be: best holiday movies, how you knew you’d found the one, sunsets, and latte art.
If you feel drained or foggy… Move your body, if only the slightest amount. Lie on your back and put your legs up on the wall, or do a slow lap around your neighborhood. You’re not working out; you’re rebooting your internal operating system.
If you feel irritable, edgy, or even angry… Stretch! Neck, shoulders, forward fold. Feel where the tension lives and move it gently. I love this approach because you’re honoring your upset, not denying it. Emotions are real, and your body wants to release them.
If you feel disconnected from yourself… Gather some self-care favorites (face masks, eucalyptus shower steamers, light and soft nail polishes, lotion, clarifying shampoo), and set aside time to simply… restore your body to factory settings. A long bath or shower. Trimmed nails and brows. Clean hair. After, put on fresh jammies, make tea, and watch a movie or read.
These aren’t grand gestures or life hacks. They’re tiny acts of reclamation, little ways to find your own center again after a week of giving out so much energy.
