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It’s All Over Now…Holiday Blues…
Posted on Oct 03, 2016
Are you suffering from PTD? You might be, without even knowing it. It’s the type of mood that someone returning to work after a holiday may feel, and it stands for Post Travel Depression. How does that feel?
If this is resonating uncomfortably, then the good news, if you can call it that, is it’s not unusual. In fact the longer you’ve been away and the better the holiday, the harder you’re going to find it to fit back in to the humdrum life that you scrimped and saved and dreamed about getting out of only a month or so ago. If you’ve been in a substantially different time zone then jet lag will only add to that feeling of malaise and wishing you weren’t where you are.
So what can you do about it? Especially at work? Well, there are a number of things:
- You could start by reliving the good times and sharing your holiday memories, stories and snaps with your friends and colleagues at work, but not to the point of boredom
- You can treat getting back to work as a fresh start, looking at those elements of it that you were dreading to return to and making a bold decision that things have got to change.
- Most of us don’t mind the work, but we do mind the stress that goes with it. Take time to analyse the way that you approach your work to see what you could be doing differently, for instance:
- If you’re a morning person do the mind challenging stuff when you get in and leave the humdrum for the afternoon. Just because an email gets to you instantly it doesn’t mean you have to answer it just as quick.
- If your life is full of meetings determine to restructure them. So much of meetings is taken up in sharing the background information everyone could have read and digested before they got there. Decide that in future meetings are going to be about consensus and decision making.
- Be an atmosphere changer. Look to find the gold in your work colleagues and work towards thanking them, congratulating them and affirming them whenever possible. Maybe organise a social event or activity…try an office FitBit challenge! Having a good work atmosphere makes all the difference.
- If there’s one bit of your job that you really enjoy, ask to do more of it!
- However blue you may be feeling make a point of writing down three things about your work that you’re grateful for each day. They’re a great reminder when things really get tough.
- Mentor someone. It will remind you what you used to enjoy in the business and why you applied in the first place, and, seeing things through someone else’s eyes, you’ll learn something too.
- When all else fails, go back to those holiday memories and start planning for next year!