I love the work that I do, and because it means so much to me, on a personal meaning level, I struggle to stop thinking about my work when I leave at the end of the day. When things aren’t going smoothly, in particular, my brain likes to focus (even obsess?) about how to solve issues. While sometimes this can be very helpful, sometimes it can be very un-helpful.
For example, let’s take this weekend. I am skiing in the backcountry near Pemberton. I am hours and hours away from my office. I am skiing in avalanche terrain. I should be enjoying myself. I should be paying attention to the avalanche terrain. 
So why am I thinking about all the things going on at the office?
I know all too well the research in regards to the importance of having breaks from work. We all know these types of shoulds in regards to health (should eat more vegetables, should exercise more often, etc.), but yet it’s implementing these shoulds that is so hard. So there I was this past weekend, skiing in a beautiful place, thinking about the stuff at the office.
Eventually though, with much effort, I was able to focus more on the moment. The chattering monkeys in my head went away. But it took a great deal of focus. I know that I couldn’t have managed it if I hadn’t gone out of my way to spend a night in a cabin in the woods and two days on skis.
So the question is: how are you able to leave things at the office? What tricks can you share for training your mind to “let things go?”
I looked up some articles on this, so if you’re at a bit of a loss on this one, here’s some interesting ideas from others:
http://www.mamapedia.com/article/leaving-work-at-work
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/02/how-to-leave-work-at-work.html
