Back to work - how to gear yourself up again after vacation
One of the difficulties of going on vacation to relax mentally can often be the awareness of the upcoming return to ordinary life and the usual work routine.
In the same way, it often takes a few days to get into holiday mode lots of employees need up to four or five days to find their way back into the daily work rhythm and get back into gear after the vacation.
They typically experience emotional discomfort, sadness or increased stress when returning to their daily work routines - negative feelings or even post-vacation depression.
Symptoms of post-vacation depression are usually mild anxiety, nostalgic feelings, difficulty concentrating, irritability or general discomfort.
Post-vacation blues
"A vacation can have been so fantastic and stimulating that it often feels like an anticlimax to return to your daily life. It can be hard to come to terms with having to go back and do work tasks following a couple of weeks with relaxation and excitement.
Often, post-vacation depression or post-travel blues is caused by work stress or burnout, dissatisfaction with life or lack of relaxation during your holiday. Usually, the negative feelings are triggered by something else disturbing your life," psychologists explain.
  Many people may experience emotional discomfort, nostalgia or increased stress by returning to their daily work routines - negative feelings or perhaps even post- vacation depression. Photos: iStock |
Frequently, those depressions are the results of a vacation or holiday experience that not at all did correspond with your excited expectations.
But more often, the relief of freedom and responsibility you experience on vacations makes it overwhelming to return to your work duties. Sometimes, you may also return to heavier workloads than those you left for the holidays.
Useful tips
The good news, however, is that post-vacation depression is not a clinically recognized condition. They will usually ease and disappear within a few days - for some, blues may take up to a few weeks.
Only, in extreme cases, your depressive post-vacation feelings might be signs of a more severe illness. Should sadness, fatigue and irritability persist for an extended period, you might need to see a doctor or therapist.
 Often the relief of freedom and responsibility you experience on vacations makes it overwhelming to return to your work duties - sometimes you also return to heavier workloads than those you left for the holidays. |
Here are a few tips on how to deal with, survive, or perhaps even avoid the worst attacks of post-travel blues when returning to work after your next vacation:
● Restart in slow motion
Allow yourself to start the first working day back at the office in slow motion. Take breaks, give yourself the necessary time to track your thoughts, concentration, and focus back on the work tasks.
● Freeze and share your good holiday memories
Share your good vacation experiences with colleagues, insert a holiday photo on your PC screen or place a souvenir on the desk - positive holiday memories add good energy to the first long working days.
● Plan your first workweek
It might be a good idea to frame your first working days so they are manageable: Start with easily accessible routine tasks, and avoid too many meetings. Possibly start up the job again on a Wednesday or Thursday.
● Prioritize a couple of days of homework
If possible, place a generous handful of home working days in your first post-holiday weeks, where you can recharge your batteries, write to-do lists, answer emails and ensure a stress-free transition back to the office.
● Focus on your highlights next
Start immediately on the first working day after your vacation to focus on new upcoming highlights, work-related as well as private: Upcoming arrangements, events, etc. in your company, planned courses, new holiday plans etc.
● Time for changes
Often, post-vacation blues are triggered by the reluctance to return to your usual workflow. The time after a holiday is perfect for planning new routines, new challenging projects, new working environments - or even a new workplace ...?
Read more:
Forbes.com: Back from vacation? Nine tips for getting back into your work routine
Medicalnewstoday.com: Is post-vacation depression real? What the research says
Healthnews.com: 8 tips to beat the post-vacation blues
Cnn.com: 5 ways to deal with the post-vacation blues
