How Ambitious Women Can Build Restorative After-Work Routines

We can all relate to that feeling of finally closing your laptop or kicking off your shoes when you get home after a long day at work. We can also relate to the feeling of wanting to do something for ourselves after work but feeling too drained. Unfortunately, 60% of U.S adults report feeling too busy to enjoy life, at least some of the time. And 34% report feeling physically and/or emotionally exhausted at the end of the work day. An astounding nearly 80% of Americans are too tired to cook after work. 

Yes, work days can be grueling, but could it also be that we are not properly utilizing our after-work time? 

For many of us, the end of the workday is finally the time to relax, kick our feet up, and watch TV or doom scroll for hours. This is a completely natural response to work intensity but research shows that when we use screens mindlessly in the evening, what feels like “relaxation” can actually reduce our sleep quality and hamper our energy the next day.

On top of that, have you ever felt like there are simply not enough hours in the day to do the things you would like to do? You’re not alone. Sixty percent of Americans say they don’t have enough time to do all the things they want to do in the day. You need to work, you need to run errands, and you want to also have time for activities that fulfill you, your creativity, and your growth. 

Research shows that how we spend our evenings can not only influence how restored and focused we feel the next day, but make the difference in feeling like we have no time for ourselves versus setting intentional time aside for growth. A 2024 study published in Leisure Studies found that engaging in meaningful, low-pressure evening activities — such as light exercise, creative hobbies, or connecting with others — promotes better sleep quality and, in turn, higher energy and engagement at work the following day. Infusing your evening routine with these activities will not only improve your productivity, but improve your personal fulfillment, because while work is a big part of life, it isn’t the entirety. 

“Psychological detachment from work during off-job time is highly relevant for recovery to occur,” said psychology professors Sunan Sonnentag and Fred Zijlstra. 

This is why it’s important to properly disconnect from work before getting into any post-work activities. But detaching isn’t only about turning off notifications — it’s about signaling to your mind and body that you’re off the clock. That can look different for everyone. 

“At the end of my work day, I take ten minutes and put everything away that I can… It helps separate my work and home life,” wrote habits expert Gretchen Rubin.

A transition ritual — closing your tabs and to-dos, tidying your workspace, or even changing clothes — creates a defined boundary that allows you to step into the evening with a clear mind rather than one cluttered with stress.

Meaningful, intentional leisure is much more restorative than passive scrolling. 

“Even more than when engaging in passive leisure (e.g., watching TV and taking a nap), people feel happiest when engaging in active leisure (e.g., socializing, volunteering, and exercising),” said UCLA professor Cassie Mogilner Holmes. “

For ambitious women, this is especially crucial. Evening hours often disappear into errands, caretaking, mental load tasks, or numbing exhaustion. This is why you’ll want to actually schedule time for the things you actually want to do — a hobby, a workout, finally reading that self-help book that’s been collecting dust, calling a friend. 

If you need a little pep talk, listen to productivity researcher Laura Vanderkam: “Time is not something we find. It’s something we make.”

Productivity isn’t just about how many hours you spent working, how many emails you sent, how many clients you closed last month. Productivity is also about personal fulfillment, personal growth. 

“We think, mistakenly, that success is the result of the amount of time we put in at work, instead of the quality of time we put in,” said Arianna Huffington, author of Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder. 

By re-defining productivity, you allow yourself to see non-work activities as valuable. 

Time away from work is your time, you can use it to rest, to learn, to achieve goals that are not directly related to “what you do.”