How to Avoid Feeling Like You Need a Vacation After Your Vacation
It can be tough coming home from a great vacation. The excitement, adrenaline, and overall high of a great adventure can quickly turn to stress and even depression when the fun is all over. Plus, even the best vacations can be quite exhausting, and people often feel like they need a calm, relaxing break from it all to get over all the fun of a trip.
For most of us, taking a second vacation to recover from the first just isn’t practical or affordable (although hats off to you if you can make it work!). Most of us have to get back to the reality of heading back to work and settling into the normal rhythms of everyday life.
So, how do you avoid this feeling? How can you stop yourself from feeling sad when you finally step off the ship at the NYC cruise port or jump in a taxi home from the airport?
Here are a few key things that you can do to ensure your adjustment back to the daily grind is as painless as possible!
Make a plan for your return to work
One of the most stressful things about ending a vacation is the return to work. We all know the feeling – dreading the mountain of emails, the huge to-do list, and the endless requests from colleagues within the first half an hour. Planning ahead for your return to work can make the whole process much less stressful and reduce the amount of ‘vacation guilt’ you feel during your trip itself.
Avoid scheduling any meetings for your first day back, and ensure that you haven’t left any work unfinished when you leave.
Stress recovery while on vacation
When you are actually on vacation, relax! Unplug properly and take advantage of your time off. You will feel far more relaxed if you take full advantage of your vacation rather than worrying about work or regular life throughout.
Try activities like meditation or yoga to really destress, and remember to get plenty of sleep.
Return midweek and take a half day
One great tip to deal with the stress of returning from vacation is to go back to work midway through the week and take a half-day. A half week is a far less daunting prospect than five long days, and the first half day lets you check-in and dip your toe back into work without having too much on your plate!
