Use your fresh perspective to set some positive personal goals
Make your vacation the start of an exciting new chapter
Many years ago, I worked with a colleague who did not believe in taking vacations for any longer than a week on the grounds that coming back to work after a lengthy vacation was just too painful. He had a point. Often the longer you’re away, the worse it feels to come back.
On the other hand, many other people would argue that a week-long vacation is not long enough because just at the point when you are starting to unwind, you are suddenly plunged back into the dizzy world of colleagues, commuting and conference calls.
Regardless of whether you have taken a week off, or a month off, the first day back at work after a vacation is often a painful experience – especially if you don’t like your job. So, what can you do to relieve the return-to-work horror?
1. Quit your job. Or, at least, start looking around for something else. Research from recruiter Robert Half in Australia suggests that it is common for people to move on after they’ve had some time out – for good reason. Feeling a sense of dread at going back to the office after a period away is likely to be a sign that you should be doing something else. So, a good way to manage the back-to-work blues is to reflect on what else you might like to do with your life and be proactive about kicking off your job search. Alternatively, if you’re sick of the stress of corporate life, now might be a good time to hatch a plan to move into self-employment. Potentially, this could enable you to enjoy much longer vacations in future.
2. Book your next vacation. A less drastic option than the one above, this may be all that is required to lift your spirits since you will immediately have something to look forward to. Try not to make your next vacation too far into the future either. Frighteningly, many people don’t even take their full vacation allowance for fear of falling behind on their work, but getting into a cycle where you rarely, or never, take time off is bad for your physical and mental health. Taking lots of short vacations could be the answer since a study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies suggests that short vacations are not necessarily better than long ones. In fact, benefits to health and wellbeing can be felt as early as two days into a break.
3. Set yourself some positive, out-of-work goals. Vacations can be a good time to reflect on what else you want from life – in addition to a thriving career, of course. Too often, we are so focused on achieving our career goals that we neglect the other things that matter to us in life, such as spending time with family and friends, indulging our hobbies, travelling for pleasure and learning new skills or languages. Coming back to the workplace after a break is a good opportunity to reset your priorities and set some new goals for the months ahead. The caveat is that these need to be positive goals that help to bring the joy back into your life, rather than punishing targets that only compound your back-to-work misery.
4. Meet up with someone you haven’t seen for a while. It could be a former colleague or a long-lost friend, but it should be someone whom you enjoy spending time with. Catching up with people you haven’t seen for a while can be a source of pleasure and it can also help to bring a fresh perspective to your life. Part of the dread associated with going back to work is linked to routine. Seeing someone you don’t normally see is a way to break that routine and feel that you are doing something different.
5. Maintain your quality downtime. This is the advice of Royston Guest, CEO of Pti Worldwide, a global consultancy and training company, and author of the book, RISE: Start living the life you were meant to lead. After a vacation, we all too easily switch back into all the bad habits that we had before – for example, being wedded to our devices and staying ‘always on’ 24/7. He says: “When you’re not working, and it’s your ‘downtime’, switch off phones, tablets and laptops. Seeing a flashing red light on your phone reporting a new email message is not going to help you switch off.”
It’s natural to undergo a period of adjustment when returning to work – especially if you have had a particularly good vacation. So, go easy on yourself, avoid working long hours on your first few days back and be wary of making dramatic decisions. Nevertheless, you should also view this period as a time of opportunity to make some important changes that have a positive impact on both your career and your life. Going back to work doesn’t have to make you feel blue. It can be the start of an exciting new chapter.
