Photo by Arif Riyanto
The holidays, while often stressful, are fun and fast-paced. However, when they are over, it can be hard to avoid a slump once your life begins to slow down. With the cold weather, Santa gone, and the New Year starting, one can feel emotionally low once the champagne bottles have closed, the presents opened, and the daunting New Year’s Resolutions set. Onsite wellness programs such as yoga, chair massage, walking clubs, and strength training can help!
Here are some tips that can help you avoid the slump that many often feel post-holidays:
- When returning back to the office, try to schedule a shorter week. This can be accomplished by starting back at work on Tuesday or Wednesday, thereby depleting the stress a little bit and avoiding 5 crazy days of endless paperwork and seemingly never-ending catch-up work after the holidays.
- Return to work renewed. Try to get as much sleep as you can while you are still on vacation, and instead of counting down the days until you have to return to work, focus on reaping as many benefits as possible during the time off you have remaining. Feel refreshed and go back to work ready to start back strong.
- Treat yourself. While your New Year’s Resolution might be to start that very-restricting diet or to work out more, give yourself a small break and treat yourself on your first day back so that the morning is not entirely bleak. Instead of going with black coffee, try a tasty latte from Starbucks.
- Show up to work prepared. Try to show up earlier than normal to allow yourself time to play catch-up on emails and mountains of paperwork before everyone in the office shows up and starts asking for favors. Try to be prepared before everyone returns so that the first day back will not be overwhelming and crazy.
- Don’t over-book yourself. Try to schedule as few projects and meetings as possible during your first week back so that you can give yourself some time to catch up and breathe.
- Be positive. Your co-workers will probably feel the same slump that you’re trying to fight, and they will likely want to complain and commiserate together whenever they can. Try to stay positive and avoid complaining about being back at work; an optimistic attitude can go a long way and can help you feel more positive about returning to work (and can even uplift the attitudes of your co-workers around you).
Returning to work can certainly be hard, but try to be mentally prepared before the craziness kicks back into gear and don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Instead, give yourself a break, treat yourself, and make wise decisions that can make the week less overwhelming. If you’re looking for a way to make your office less stressed, consider giving Massage Kneads a call. We would love to come into your office to provide chair massage to your employees; a perfect way to welcome the New Year in your office environment and to say “Welcome Back” to your workers post-holiday.
One client enjoyed a mobile chair massage last week and emailed me this review!
Awesome Massage “Great Therapist Great massage therapist, very friendly and professional. Always asks about my level of stress and from there she is able to figure out which part of my back she needs to work on. Overall great and awesome service!!!
Call Massage Kneads to schedule our mobile chair massage therapists to serve your office sometime during the first months of the THIS New Year!
For more information, check out “Back to the Grindstone: How to Beat the Post-Holiday Slump,” originally posted on January 3, 2013, on http://www.forbes.com/sites/dailymuse/2013/01/03/back-to-the-grindstone-how-to-beat-the-post-holiday-slump/
