5 Ways to Help Overcome Back to Work Blues Successfully

You are not alone if you are dreading and anxiously awaiting going back to work after a long weekend, break, or vacation. Upon returning from maternity/paternity leave or recovering from an injury, you can experience the back-to-work blues. Back-to-work blues affects all office workers at some stage. The signs and symptoms include being easily distracted, grumpy, and generally unhappy in the workplace.

Fortunately, there are some great ways to help you readjust back into work mode and overcome back-to-work blues. You can treat your vacation hangover by organizing your activities for optimum success, incorporating motivational factors into your workweek to make it more manageable, and planning your return to minimize the back-to-work blues.

Are you an office worker who has just gotten back to work after a long vacation? Are you looking for tips to recover from back-to-work blues? In this article by Autonomous,  we are going to provide you with the best tips to overcome back-to-work blues and get you back to your optimal performance in the workplace after coming back to work after a long break.

What Is Back To Work Blues?

Do you find yourself daydreaming about your recent holiday at your desk? Are you finding it difficult to concentrate? Feeling down in the dumps and wishing you weren't at work? You are probably experiencing a vacation hangover. The term “back to work blues” is described as a stressed, low, sleepy, or depressed feeling that certain people get during a certain time of year, similar to psychological jet lag.

To avoid fatigue, anxiety, or depression from taking over your life, you must take the appropriate steps. The amount of work you have and the deadlines you have are going to all have an impact on these circumstances. We often believe that these negative circumstances, deadlines, and large amounts of work are beyond our control; however, there are measures we can take to ease tension, such as meditation sessions, mindfulness, going to the gym, socializing with friends and family, and more. In the following sections of this article, we are going to provide you with the best ways to recover from back to work blues.

Tips To Overcome Back To Work Blues

Traveling, relaxing on the beach, unwinding, reconnecting with family and friends, finishing those DIY tasks, sleeping in, and catching up with all your favorite movies are all common activities during the holiday season. During vacations, people often detach from the work mode and follow a less fast-paced and structured routine. When it is time for going back to work after the holidays, the dilemma arises and the back to work blues sets in. Here are five tips for going back to work that are going to help you relieve the back-to-work blues in no time.

1. Smart, Not Hard

It can be difficult to get off to a decent start on the first day back. Focusing on only three priority activities is going to help you feel less overwhelmed and streamline your day. This helps you to become more motivated and get back into the groove of things without feeling as if you have lost your mind.

2. Schedule Tasks According To Your Energy Levels

You could have trouble getting back in rhythm if your holiday carried you to a different time zone. Mornings can be difficult if you have been staying up late with a newborn baby. Consider the times of day when you are most likely to have the most momentum, concentration, and interest. Set aside this time to complete the most important assignments.

3. Remember To Take Breaks

Nothing makes the first day back at work more difficult than attempting to work throughout the workday. Take a brief break every hour or two to break up your workday and rejuvenate yourself. You could talk to a colleague, rest, refill your beverage, get a coffee, or go for a stroll outside during your break.

4. Stay Off Social Media

Logging into your favorite social media platform just makes your back-to-work blues worse. You are not only going to see pictures on your friends' accounts that make you jealous of their vacations, but you are also going to waste a lot of time in the process. As a consequence, you are going to be irritable and unable to keep up with your activities and workload. 

5. Stress-Reducing Apps

When you are feeling stressed, stress-reducing apps are a great way to save yourself from falling off into the deep end.  If you are looking for stress-relieving apps, here are six great stress relief apps:

•    Calm

•    The Mindfulness App

•    Happify

•    Worry Watch

•    Relax and Sleep Well Hypnosis

•    Daily Yoga

Hybrid Working Model

Getting back into a work mindset and meeting the expectations of a regular workweek can be a difficult challenge. It is natural to be anxious about returning to work. 

When you have been remote working, it is even more of a challenge to get into the groove of things. When you are a remote worker, it may seem like an uphill struggle to shift into a more concentrated and professional mindset, particularly when nothing about you gives you the corporate edge. This is perhaps where the hybrid work model is best suited. There are many perks to a hybrid work model which can certainly help in dealing with the back-to-work blues. Here you have some of the main benefits that a hybrid work-from-home model can give an office worker:

•    You can make yourself available for international job offers.

•   You can design your workstation with features such as the addition of ergonomic office furniture.

•    Flexible Work Schedule

The Bottom Line

An essential thing you should know about the anxiety of returning to work and experiencing the back-to-work blues is that you are not alone. Do not be afraid to reach out and speak to others. By following the above tips, you can treat your vacation hangover, by organizing your activities for optimum success, incorporating motivational factors into your workweek to make it more manageable, and planning your return to minimize the back-to-work blues and get back to your top form self.