Well for me, it’s about accepting the fact that in life, wherever and whatever you work, there will be bad days. It’s just work, it’s not personal. The higher your position, the more role you take, the more responsibilities you have, the higher chances that you‘ll have uncomfortable surprising situations thrown at you at work.

So accepting it is one thing.

The next thing is I put some ground rules not to bring work home or to work at home (OK, there might be some exceptions). Home is where my personal space is. I would like to relieve my stress and wind down at home. If I work continuously at home and have bad days there (due to work) then home will not feel a personal space to me anymore. Home will feel like a workplace where I’m mostly stressed.

So putting a bold line between home and work is important.

To wind down I try to do activities that are completely unrelated to my work. In the summer I like to bike, enjoy nature (particularly in the black forest region), and shoot some photos. Playing more with my little daughter actually is a therapy for me.

That’s why having hobbies that have nothing to do with daily work has helped me a lot to balance my stress level.