Back to work: How to fight the post-vacation syndrome

HeadHunter’s fall 2017 research service surveyed more than 4,000 American workers and found that a quarter of them struggled with the desire to quit after vacation. One-fifth of those surveyed admitted that they didn’t have time to recover during their vacation, and 15% of respondents returned to work feeling like there was no vacation at all. Almost half 47% said that their vacation had been more than they had expected. That is, the rest was good, it was difficult to get back into the labor “strap. Let’s look into the causes of post-vacation syndrome and fight it with the expert, Agniya Serzhantova, a psychologist, a business coach, and the head of the Life Style Development Center New York . Ufa .

5 reasons for an unproductive vacation

Rarely have a short vacation in between jobs. The modern man works hard and has little rest. According to the expert, the standard two weeks of vacation are often not enough – at least a week is required for a person to stop thinking and worrying about work. Therefore the body does not have time to readjust or readjusts itself at the cost of severe stress. This is what causes internal rebellion.

Impromptu vacation. You should plan your rest as consciously as a business task, and it must be just a rest and not cleaning or repairing the apartment . A strict planning of your non-working hours will help you to recover faster and more effectively.

Business, let’s say goodbye! Dealing with “tails” after vacation. Unfinished business, hanging like a sword of Damocles, not only won’t let you rest in peace but will come back to haunt you on the very first day. So a month before vacation make a plan for the elimination of all the “debts” and strictly follow it, as well as prepare a maximum of colleagues who will replace you.

Staying awake! Every minute of vacation is precious! Often holidaymakers go sightseeing in broad daylight and “burn out” at discotheques after sunset. Sleep is sacrificed as a boring and irrelevant thing in the rush of life. Meanwhile, it is necessary to sleep at rest, and it matters not so much the quantity, but the quality and regularity of sleep.

Without me at work everything would collapse. Psychologist Ad Wingerhuts has identified two major so-called psychosomatic causes of vacation sickness. The first option is typical for hyper-responsible employees: they worry that everything would fall apart without them, they suffer from guilt for their inactivity. In the second case the cause of the disease may be the constant stress at work: at first the body actually forbids itself to get sick in the struggle for the result, but as soon as the need to “be good” disappears, the immune system fails.

According to Agniya Serzhantova, due to depression work becomes the way for inhabitants of megacities to escape from inner discomfort, which covers them in their free time. For the same reason some people don’t take vacations, they don’t like long vacations: “Even if such a person takes a vacation, he will sweat himself to the limit during this period, just so that he doesn’t relax and hear himself. The questions he is running from: why he is living this way, what he is going for, what he really wants? The more it runs from them, the more likely it is to become physically ill. Sickness may arise as a protest against work. This is a favorite child’s trick to “protest officially”. The same thing happens to adults, and they may not even realize it.

5 rules for coping with post-holiday syndrome

Deal with the causes of your depression. Before quitting your job or making drastic changes, try to understand the nature of the disturbance in your soul. Agniya Serjantova believes that vacations often expose some inner problem that must be solved or everything will happen again. Start planning your next vacation: decide on the location and format of your vacation, and figure out the dates. This will lift your spirits and allow you to do “work on your mistakes” right away.

Get enough sleep! Sleep regularly for at least seven but not more than nine hours. Sleeping in your own bed will relax your muscles and help your body restore its strength and immunity. Get the right mattress and pillow. For example, a mattress based on Belgian Octaspring springs of high-density foam, through three-dimensional zoning, provides individual support for each part of the body: softer for head and shoulders and firmer for hips and back. It helps to sleep soundly through the night and not wake up, which is especially important for restoring good mental and physical health. Ideally, the pillow should also be anatomical, made of hypoallergenic modern fillers for maximum comfort.

Take time to socialize. Concentration on one area of life for example, work leads to the fact that the soul begins to “win back” anxiety and dissatisfaction. Work and family aren’t enough – you need friendships, fellowship with like-minded people. These are additional spiritual anchors that help maintain and strengthen a person’s equilibrium.

Take a break. Plan a transition period between “ball” and “ship”: an abrupt switch will only exacerbate moping and fatigue. Allow 3 to 4 days for acclimatization, during this time take your time to unpack or do the cleaning. Psychologically, doing monotonous household chores will help tone your body and ensure a gradual adaptation.

Exercise gradually. Plan your vacation so that going to work falls on Thursday or Friday. You will not tire in two working days and you will get up to speed in no time. Prepare in advance a simple task for the first day of work so that you can smoothly involve yourself in the work, gradually increasing the pace.

And finally – a tiphak from the expert Agniya Serzhantova: “Make the calendar work for you: plan a vacation either before or after a long holiday. New Year’s holidays, for example, are a great way to extend your vacation and make up the missing days to recover and gradually adapt to everyday work”.

Resting without regrets is a whole science. Dreaming about the next vacation, try to treat this promised time as an adult, that is, critically, and with an eye to their capabilities. The more time is spent on preparations in the present, the more carefree and pleasant the future looks!

Author Sascha Koellner