A vacation is supposed to be relaxing. It’s supposed to be a chance to recharge our batteries. A chance to set aside work and relax so that when we return, we’re more productive and focused than ever.
A such, it can be immensely frustrating when after a trip or some time off, we find ourselves distracted and exhausted.
We’ve all experienced post-holiday burnout at one point or another. Whether returning from Christmas with our family or a summer trip, it makes setting foot in the office feel like a nigh-impossible task, let alone getting anything done. What gives?
We’ll start with the bad news first. Chances are fairly high that your vacation wasn’t quite as relaxing as you wanted it to be. According to a piece in Forge Magazine, a Medium publication about personal development, there could be several reasons for this.
- You chose the wrong vacation. According to occupational psychologist Sabine Sonnentag, the ideal vacation has four ingredients. It’s relaxing, it lets you mentally detach from work, you have power over how you spend your time, and it’s both engaging and interesting. How each of these ingredients manifests largely depends on personal taste, but a holiday that lacks any of them can end up being stressful rather than regenerative.
- You’re going in with the wrong mindset. If you’re on vacation, disconnect entirely from your job. Set an autoresponder for your work email and any messaging apps your co-workers use, then disable notifications for them. If you feel the need, you can also, write a to-do list that you can cover on your first day or two back.
- You aren’t letting yourself unwind. Maybe you’re thinking about how much work you’ll need to do upon your return, or stressing about whether or not your employees can hold down the fort in your absence. Find fulfilling ways to occupy your time and your mind that let you forget about your job.
- You didn’t give yourself a buffer. Ideally, you’ll want to schedule a day or two of downtime upon your return from any holiday. This gives you a chance to mentally prepare yourself to return to work, while also allowing you to take care of any personal chores or errands that piled up while you were away.
- Understand that your burnout might be tied to something deeper. If you’re already burnt out, a short vacation might not be enough. You might need a long sabbatical, or at the very least to speak to a therapist and unravel the real source of your exhaustion.
Of course, none of the above really helps you if you’re already in a post-holiday slump.
To overcome that, the best advice we can give is to allow yourself time to ease back into your job. Understand that you’re not going to be firing on all cylinders in your first few days back, and instead focus on just doing what you can. Do whatever you can to build relaxation opportunities into your workday, whether that’s a quick nap in the breakroom, a jog during lunch, or a stroll in the morning before work.
Most importantly, understand that you aren’t a machine. You need time to recharge, even outside of the occasional vacation. Evenings and weekends afford you that opportunity, and we’d strongly recommend you take it.
Because otherwise, you might just end up moving from burnout to burnout.