Top 5 tips to beat the post-vacation blues at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Top 5 tips to beat the post-vacation blues at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog Aaaahhh Summer vacation. Depending on your fancy its time to lie on the beach with a good book, wear out your shoe soles exploring a strange city or scream your head off skydiving or in some other adrenaline-driven pursuit. But invariably the vacation ends and you go back to work, and that transition can be a little rough. Do you know that feeling? You come back to work happy and full of energy ? but by the end of the first work day, youre already feeling tired an unhappy. Its almost like you didnt have a vacation at all. So here are a five tips to help you stay happy when you get back to work. 1: While youre away, get away Dont take the company mobile and laptop on vacation. Dont check your voice mail and email. The point of a vacation is to get away and go to a different mental space, and if youre preoccupied with work, chances are youll both enjoy your vacation less and get less relaxation out of it. 2: Let yourself get behind When you get back from your vacation, you will invariably have fallen behind and have a lot of work to catch up on. There will be a ton of voice mails, emails and tasks that need your attention. THATS FINE!!! Its unavoidable and its not your fault. Look at it this way: If you can leave the company for two weeks and theres no work waiting for you, youre not really needed there. So dont expect to have a clear desk on your first day back ? allow yourself to be behind and to catch up steadily. 3: Start with some easy tasks When you get back to work, dont immediately throw yourself at the toughest, hairiest most complicated tasks you have. Ease into work by doing something easy and simple ? something you know you can do. Once youre back in full swing you can go at the tough tasks. 4: Dont overwork to catch up It can be really tempting to work long hours to catch up after your vacation. DONT!!! Work regular hours and stick to point 2 above. 5: Ask for help if you need it If you find it difficult to catch up, dont be afraid to ask your co-workers or manager for help. Its important for you to be aware of any outstanding tasks that may have become critically late in your absence, and if you could use some help ? its your responsibility to ask for it! It also greatly increases the chance that you will actually get help. If you use these tips, you may find that your vacations feel more like vacations and that you can be even happier at work. But on a fundamental level, there is something wrong with the idea that work drains you of energy and weekends and vacations recharge you. I know that this is how most people feel but thats not how it should be. If work typically drains you of energy if every week ends up draining you of life so you barely make it to Friday afternoon where you can finally relax then somethings wrong. Dont accept that state of affairs just because everyone else does. When youre happy at work, work can actually be a regenerative activity that leaves you with more energy so you leave the workplace with a spring in your step most days! And THAT is the ultimate way to beat the post-vacation blues: Have a job you actually like! Your take Do you ever get the post-vacation blues? What do you do to beatem? Have you also noticed that vacations these days seem to be more tiring than work (as this article says)? Related posts Find your quitting point How to find a job youll love Never stay in a bad job. Fix it or leave. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related