Written by: Shona Hirons, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Prior to that all important holiday, you’re working extra hard to get all those important tasks done, so you can try and enjoy your time off. You’re in full-on work mode and it can be hard to shut off.
Then you get to your destination and you hit the pool bar, have the greatest of intentions of going for a run on the beach every morning, or hit the hotel gym, but three days in you still haven’t unpacked your trainers. Instead, you’re eating different food, which you wouldn’t indulge in every day back home, you spend most of the day lying down with your feet up, which isn’t the norm for you, you’re drinking a lot more than usual and you’re sleeping a lot more. You may also be experiencing jet lag depending on where you’ve travelled to, so your body clock is out of sync. There’s nothing wrong with any of this. You are allowed to have fun, but then you return and you just can’t get back into your regular routine, you feel even more tired than you did before you went away, yet you’ve got an inbox full of emails and don’t know where to start.
Do you feel ready for another holiday within days of returning?
Check out my 5 tips on how to avoid this.
1. Buddy Up Before You Go on Holiday
Hold team meetings to plan a handover before you go away to ensure you’re not coming back to piles of work. You don’t want to work yourself to the bone before you leave, worry about work when you’re away, and dread returning to the office on your return.
2. Give Yourself Time to Recover
Not all holidays are relaxing. Some are exhausting, especially if you have young children who want constant entertaining all day and night. Don’t plan lots of activities for your return. It can take one day per hour of time difference to get your sleeping pattern back on track.
3. Get Active
You may feel sluggish on your return. Think about it, you may have over-indulged by eating and drinking more during your holiday, so plan to eat a little healthier and get your body moving. You may not feel like you have the energy, but sitting around can make you even more tired.
4. Plan Your Next Trip
Someone recently described their return from holiday as “post-holiday misery”. Coming home can feel depressing, so why not plan your next trip? It doesn’t matter if it’s not until next year, but this can give you something to look forward to and take the edge off returning.
5. Choose The Right Holiday
If you’ve been full on for a long time, choose a holiday that allows you to rest and recover properly. Disney Land may seem like a good idea, but you’ll be on the go constantly and there will be little time for rest. Why not choose a resort with plenty of optional activities and maybe a day at a water park? Find time to do the things you want to do too.
Here’s another useful article to help you manage the post-holiday blues.
If you’re suffering from post-holiday fatigue, follow these tips, or get in touch to talk it through and to never have to feel like this again.
Shona Hirons, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Shona Hirons is an award-winning global Resilience and Burnout Coach. A breakdown from work-related stress, which led to a life-changing accident, requiring major facial reconstructive surgery and brain damage, gave her a big wake-up call. During her recovery, she went on a journey of self-discovery to rebuild her resilience, consider her values and achieve all the things she was told she couldn't do. Shona has developed strategies to boost her resilience, and now helps others to do the same. She is the CEO of Mindset in Motion, and a leader in corporate wellbeing, working with corporate clients in over 195 countries. Her mission: To improve the well-being of people and businesses throughout the world.
