The most important thing is to make the change from vacation to work as smooth as possible and focus on the positive thing that has to return to that routine, which is never easy, and more when we have still recorded in our retina the image of the beach. It is estimated that 30% of workers suffer post-vocational depression during the incorporation to their position. If you are within this high percentage, the return can be done uphill and it may be difficult for you to recover the rhythm.

This syndrome is based, fundamentally, on that feeling of lack of energy and motivation, together with a feeling of sadness, that we suffer when we reincorporate ourselves to our work responsibilities after our vacation period. Apathy, tiredness, insomnia, irritability and lack of concentration are common symptoms that can appear when returning to work. How can we make it more bearable and better manage the return to the work routine, taking into account that, in some extreme cases, it can even cause headaches, anxiety or general malaise?

The medical professionals recommend us to have a little patience because they believe that in a couple of weeks the body will be used to it. In any case, it is difficult to draw up a concrete profile of the workers most likely to suffer these effects. But you can do an approximation based on your work environment and personal characteristics. In what the specialists agree is that the idea is to give up caffeine and alcohol, rest eight hours at night, play sports and look for new stimulating activities. And also they emphasize that the people with greater probabilities to fall in this state are those that usually have a smaller resistance to the frustration.

When stress serves to confront a conflictive situation, as a rule, it improves our attitude towards it and helps us to resolve it. We can say that in this case, it is positive. The problem comes when stress blocks us, something very common when returning from vacations, especially if they have been too long and we return to a not very pleasant working environment.

HEALTHY TIPS

Fortunately, there are some tricks, at a general level, that can help us to prevent and combat these symptoms, although the ideal is to know well the pathology of each person to know how to combat them avoiding affecting performance and health:

  • Get up early a few days before reincorporates to adapt beforehand to the usual schedules.
  • Return from vacation a few days before to acclimate gradually.
  • Divide vacation days to avoid them being too long and make the return less abrupt.
  • See the positive side avoiding thinking that work is a burden, but quite the opposite.
  • Put the alarm clock five or ten minutes before, to avoid the stress of the rush.
  • Do not load work on the first day, but gradually.

And, fundamentally, let’s follow these four wise pieces of advice, not only to avoid the post-holiday syndrome but to apply them throughout the year.

  • Let’s take care of food: Healthy eating is the best source of energy. Fruits, vegetables and legumes are the great allies to achieve high energy that lasts a few hours, having a high content of carbohydrates easily absorbed.
  • Let’s practice sports: Although at the beginning it can give us a lot of laziness, the practice of regular physical exercise will help us to become active. Playing sports helps us to secrete endorphins that bring vitality to the body and control stress. Of course, let’s try not to practice it at the last minute because it will make sleep and rest worse.
  • Let’s check some schedules: After the holidays the body has an early start. So we must recover the scheduled routine, not neglect the necessary hours of sleep and try to keep a few guidelines to reconcile it well: a hot shower, the room environment and the disconnection of the mobile will be our great allies.
  • Let’s not neglect free time: We should look for time for ourselves, not neglecting hobbies, friendships, etc.