Many of us are getting ready to return to work, or are getting the kids ready for return to school, or are going back to study.
The post-holiday blues is that sinking feeling of returning back to the daily grind, and maybe concern about losing your freedom. It can lead to significant depression or anxiety.
Many people buffer this type of stress and worry with rewards to try and keep some semblance of sanity – but the rewards are often not good for our health. Alcohol, sweet treats, and take away meals are all common crutches used whilst we adapt back to a busier lifestyle that adds pressure in our day.
Today I have some tips to move into this changed environment with better purpose, clarity and motivation, allowing you to keep your healthy lifestyle goals in the forefront of your intention.
Look at the positives
When you find yourself groaning about returning to work, ask yourself what is the positive of this. Focusing on the positives instantly shifts your awareness and therefore your neurotransmitters respond to produce serotonin and dopamine instead of adrenaline.
Here are some examples:
- Payday – ka-ching!
- Get to use my creativity
- Connect with co-workers
- Extend my skills
- Professional growth
- Upcoming seminars and training to increase professional education
- I get direction, structure and purpose which I thrive in
Embrace your feelings
Everyone feels different levels of emotion going back to work. The key is to embrace your feelings – recognise that it is natural and process them in a healthy way, such as talking about it with someone, or journaling about it on paper.
The first few days back at work will probably be hard, and this is ok.
Email Blues
Are you anticipating a gazillion emails? Then spend some time the day before getting through them. Keep the ones that you need to look at/respond unread or star them; this way you’ll get a head start and will avoid starting your day off on the wrong foot.
Prepare the night before
Don’t wait until the morning and then run around like a crazy person trying to get everything together – that is totally the wrong way to start your day! Be prepared – have your clothes ironed and set out, keys, wallet, lip balm – everything ready. Have a healthy lunch made and ready to grab from the fridge, and if you have brain fog, write a list to check off.
Wear comfortable clothes
If you work from home or not, ensure that your outfit is smart and comfortable. If you look good, you will feel good too.
Set new career or work goals
If you return to your job and it is the same as before your holiday, this can be extremely demotivating. Set some new goals to extend your learning and motivation. It may be to apply for a new position in the company, set an appointment to speak with your manager or boss about giving you more or less responsibility, take a course to upskill, or maybe you need to find a totally new job. The only way to keep from getting bored at work is if we have something new to learn. Identify an area in your sector that you’d like to master and go back to work knowing that you have a challenge ahead of you.
Too Tired To Work?
If you are struggling to find the energy to get back to work, or use all your reserves at work and have nothing left for your time off, then there is something out of balance in the body.
We often see people who have had high stress for years on end and ended up with burn-out or chronic fatigue. This type of persistent fatigue doesn’t respond to the above suggestions – not until you solve the physical imbalance causing it.
At the core are many factors, and our purpose is to discover which apply to you so we can assist the body to return to a state of natural vitality again.
To find out exactly why, we use functional pathology, a form of testing that uses more sensitive markers than most of the standard testing done by your doctor under Medicare.
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