Make a Recovery Plan on Vacation
On NBC News, writer Sarah DiGiulio described the inevitable feeling of dread after a break from work, also known as the post-vacation blues: By Monday morning, you’re back in the office, at your desk, wondering if everything was a dream.
Some of this unsettling feeling, DiGiulio writes, can be attributed to a sudden change in your daily life. You’ve gone from waking up at 11am with no immediate plans (other than maybe finding a sun lounger to sleep in) to waking up at dawn frantically checking your inbox. “This shift is a point of friction and is often perceived as discouraging,” Down Ballard, an assistant professor of communications research at the University of Texas, told NBC News.
Another explanation is simpler: your time is no longer yours to use as you wish, and you are back to your normal daily routine, which probably doesn’t seem so stimulating or exciting after your vacation. This is why writing a vacation recovery plan can help: finding the best ways to prepare and return to your daily routine.
Plan ahead and take a day off after your vacation
The last thing you want to do after the day off is to go to the office immediately the next morning; it’s like diving headlong into icy water. Instead, as DiGiulio writes, make the transition easier by scheduling a spare day after the trip. If you’re tired of jet lag, getting back to work will be much easier knowing you have 24 hours to recover as best you can. Alternatively, ask for a work day at home so you don’t waste energy commuting to work.
If you’re short on vacation days, here’s another tip: try planning your trip so you come back mid-week. If you are forced to work the next day and that day falls on a Thursday, at least it is a shorter work week and you have a weekend to look forward to. And while you are doing that, ask for another day off (or vacation) in the near future, stat. In general, if you wait anxiously for something, the boredom of your daily routine will become less excruciating.
Get rid of annoying responsibilities
Another tricky part of getting back from vacation is doing your daily chores like doing laundry or cleaning. Getting ready to complete some household chores before you travel will make the transition from vacation much easier and free up time when you return. (This is why we support going to the gym while on vacation ; this is another thing you might want to check off your list when you get home and feel the jet lag.) It’s the same with work. If there is a task that you are putting off, do it before the trip. You don’t want to walk into an office knowing that you already have a full plate.
Change your routine during this first week
If you are drawn to the monotony of everyday life, it may really be time for you to change your routine, even if temporarily. This can make the first week after your vacation less frustrating simply because you’re giving yourself a little incentive to deviate from your usual schedule. For example, after a recent trip, I started going to the gym at 6 a.m. for a few days (partly because I was very tired after my jet lag, but also because I just couldn’t get my regular schedule right yet). Yes, it’s a relatively minor change, but it made a big difference in my mood. And the options are pretty endless; maybe you can see a friend on a day that you wouldn’t normally see. Or you change your lunch break. It doesn’t have to be a big life decision, just something that will help you get into your life more easily after the vacation.