How to Swerve the ‘On Holiday’ Blues - Seasonal Career Change

If you’re lucky enough to be reading this from a sunlounger, or perhaps you’re just home and have ‘back to work’ blues, but you're struggling to relax, and even found yourself with office FOMO ‘I wonder how that meeting went’ ‘Did Jeff get that project signed off with the client – they’ve been tricky recently’ - read on.

Perhaps you are having the full holiday-existential-crisis. “what am I doing with my life”, “Shall we just sell up and move to Spain”, “When will I get the balls to move out here and set up the bike rental place I’ve always talked about?”

Here are my top tips to surviving your holiday ‘blues’.

1.      Get into the moment – much of our anxiety is future-focused. Projecting into a future you don’t know and can’t shine a light into because of all the questions in your head. ‘What Ifs’ and ‘How can Is?’.

Get sensory. Take a moment to breathe more deeply, and then notice everything around you. The glisten on the bright red tomato in your Greek salad, the sound of the crickets in early evening, the smell of the suntan lotion on that child running past you, the feeling of seasalt drying tight on your skin.

Ground yourself in the here and now, and whilst you are there...

2.      Anchor it. Whilst you are in the moment, push your forefinger and  thumb together, hard. When you are next having a thought spiral, mimic the action to bring yourself back into the present and out of the spin.

3.      Get moving – get up off the sun lounger, put down the G&T. and go out and do something. You already know this stuff - Go for a walk, put your feet in the sea, go for a run, swim, dance around your room – something that requires your limbs to move. The activity will release feel-good hormones that will reduce your stress levels and remove cortisol from your system.

Cross-body movements like swimming, walking, or even passing a pen from one hand to the other, strengthens the bridge between the left and right hemispheres of your brain, which ‘reboots’ your electrical impulses, and helps you think more clearly.

4.      Ask Yourself Why – come back to what you are worrying about. Ask yourself why you are worrying – what’s the worst case scenario? Keep asking yourself why until you get to the real reason – the root cause. It’s probably not what you think. (Usually 5 Whys are the magic number)

When you have the root cause, ask yourself:

a.      Am I focused on the right thing to fix this?

b.      Do I have a plan?

c.      Can I afford not to deal with this now?

d.      Can anyone else help me?

Get present, get grounded and then get to the heart of the problem – then talk that out with someone you trust. (With or without the cold beer/can of Fanta)

Need some tangible help with this?

Especially if you're thinking of jacking it all in and opening up a cheese shop in Devon.

I can help you gain clarity on the ways forward (especially if you're thinking of jacking it all in and opening up a cheese shop in Devon) and ensure you are avoiding those post-holiday blues, as well as equipping you with the right leadership tools to perform at your very best once you come back, refreshed and tanned.