Did you have to force yourself out of bed on the first day of work after a long Christmas holiday? After a long weekend of fun and carols, it must feel tough to return to the office and face all the pending tasks you left for your post-Christmas self. If you find yourself in a daze at work and find it hard to finish your tasks, you may be experiencing a post-Christmas slump.
You commonly feel down after a long, fun holiday, especially when you spend time with your family and loved ones. However, you must know how to deal with the post-Christmas slump, which might affect your work routine and performance. Despite being the end of the year, your performance at work still counts, and you don’t want this post-Christmas slump to affect your career.
Here are 5 ways for you to deal with that troublesome post-Christmas slump:
1. Plan ahead
Before leaving your office for the holiday, list what you want to do once you’re back to work. This will help when you have that post-Christmas slump and feel too lazy to think. That way, you do not have to overthink during your holiday, and your task is already sorted. All you have to do is complete the job according to the list that you did. Work will feel less like a burden since you do not have to think too hard about what to do because before celebrating Christmas, you already made the task list for the post-Christmas days.
Sometimes, you feel so anxious after the holiday that you feel like you have to do everything. Still, you do nothing because you feel overwhelmed by what you want to accomplish at work. Having unrealistic goals at work is not helpful for your post-Christmas slump. You do not have to reply to every single email or attend too many meetings in one day. At this rate, you would burn yourself up and worsen the post-Christmas slump. Make a priority list for all your pending work and work on it from the most to the least urgent.
The plan does not have to be something extravagant or fancy. It could be something as simple as having lunch at a new place with your coworkers. Or arrange a dinner plan after work with your team where you all can talk about things other than work. Giving yourself something to look forward to can help with your post-Christmas slump.
Make sure to arrive early on the first morning after your Christmas break. This would help you ease back into your work and get used to your surroundings again. It allows you to process that you are already at work, and you can calmly review the tasks you will do on that day without distraction from other people. Despite having a post-Christmas slump, you can still be productive because arriving early can at least help you to take longer time to strategize the task of the day.
Do you know that energy can be contagious? If you act moody, consider that your coworkers might be affected by your sour mood, too. So why not stay positive so your coworkers feel the same way? That way, you can uplift each other’s mood to help with the post-Christmas slump. Sharing funny Christmas anecdotes among coworkers does not hurt as long as your work is on track.
