The girls have begun their countdown to when they go back to school and they are not happy about it as they keep telling me!
‘Oh goodness one week to go and then it’s 6am wake up time!’ ‘Oh yuck it’s school in a week!’ ‘I wish we didn’t have school!’ ‘Can’t believe the holiday is nearly over and we have to go back to school!’
They see me rolling my eyes at them every time they moan but if truth be told I feel exactly the same with me going back to work!
But of course I tend to moan and mope internally!
The excitement of switching our ‘Out of Office’ on is quickly over-shadowed by a sinking feeling – its time to switch it off!
As I set my alarm (far earlier than I have had to wake up in the last month!) I too am thinking oh boy I actually have to work tomorrow!
The first step I guess is to embrace the blues.
Researchers have found that the negative emotions associated with the end of a holiday can throw our body-clocks out of synch and make us feel jet-lagged.
Symptoms might include: feeling sluggish, struggling to sleep, indigestion, loss of appetite, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, clumsiness, lack of energy and general fatigue.
Sounds about right!
Researchers say one can display some strengths and some weaknesses during the first days back at work.
Yep break time is over and real life is beckoning.
Good news though is that I am not alone in feeling the blues. A recent survey put the number of people affected by post-vacation anxiety at 39 per cent!
Post-holiday blue can be caused by a sense of loss of the positive aspects of a holiday eg, time with family or loved ones, novelty, excitement, relaxation, say psychologists.
Perhaps though I should take the advice of Tammy Tansley, author of Do What You Say You’ll Do.
She says we should correctly identify the cause of our dread and reframe our thoughts.
So, dread at going back to work could be reframed as delight at having had such a lovely holiday. Sadness at a holiday coming to an end could be reframed as gratitude for having a job to return to.
Ok here it goes....I am thankful for a great holiday spent with family and friends and for a lovely job which I thoroughly enjoy.
Nope...
Nothing...
Still not looking forward to tomorrow...
Reem Antoon is a former GDN news editor. She can be reached on: clanmun4@gmail.com