Experts share the habits to avoid in order to prevent burnout and keep you more focused during your actual workday.

If you’re on a quest to be more productive, you might assume that you need to use every minute in the day to, well, accomplish something.

But pushing yourself to work harder and faster doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be more efficient. In fact, if you never give your brain time to rest and recuperate, your attention, creativity and problem-solving skills will suffer.

So, what’s the best way to boost productivity? According to the three experts we spoke to, it’s using your down time to recharge and refuel. As Sophie Mort, a clinical psychologist at Headspace, told HuffPost, “once we are feeling rested and fulfilled outside of work, we become more productive and present when we return.”

What you do after work can have a profound effect on how alert and focused you feel the next day. With that, here are five things you absolutely want to avoid doing after work if you’re looking to up your productivity:

Doing Even More Work

Heather Lamb, a workplace well-being expert and author of How Not to Be a People Pleaser: Five Action Steps to Using Your Voice Without Regret, said the last thing she wants to do after a busy day at work is … more work. Research shows that many people feel pressure to work around the clock, and those who keep chipping away at projects after-hours are more likely to experience burnout and lower job satisfaction.

The takeaway: It’s crucial to give your brain some time off. “If we power through after work and keep working, our brains have no time to recover and reorganise,” said Billy Roberts, the founder at Focused Mind ADHD Counselling. This can ultimately make you feel less motivated, creative and focused, he adds.

Instead of working until bedtime, Lamb suggested occupying yourself with low-stress activities, such as going on a walk........

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