Settling back in post-holiday

 A man stuggling to work. (Courtesy)

The holidays are over, the dust has settled down, the festive mood air is thinning away, and many of us would be thrilled if that holiday mood would last forever, unfortunately, real life is here with us, and it is time to get back to reality and routine - back to work, back to business, and hustling.

The long vacations that came along with exciting travel experiences, where for a moment you let your hair down, and let yourself loose, meaning you let yourself off the hook of routine, worries of hectic schedules, crisis traffic, and school routines among others, to conveniently "tune" your brain to forget all these issues, is now done. It's time to face reality.

Getting back to the "normal routine" is not an easy task, especially after a roller-coaster vacation. Some, maybe in denial and postpone such tasks as unpacking, and ignoring emails and social media messages that have been piling up, while others go ahead and ask "for extended leave days, but that is no sound solution. It will land into other new problems of wishing you had attended to some tasks soonest after your vacation.

Keeping tasks and issues that need attention after the holidays will soon or later leave you feeling exhausted as you rush to catch up - the year has just started, and you have been on vacation to cut down stress! It is too early to let stress catch up with you.

Identify the positives and negatives of your trip

A positive trip will leave you feeling, excited and happy that you came safely, grateful, inspired, confident, empowered, and probably you might be back with a newfound sense of consciousness that allows you to look and face the world with a different approach.

However, there could be a possibility that while on vacation, you might have had negative experiences that might have left you wishing that you never took the vacation or left you feeling, exhausted, irritable, anxious, moody, or broke especially if you spent beyond your budget.

Nonetheless, whether you had a good or bad vacation, the most important thing to keep in mind is that you are in control of the situation. All you need is an alert mind in order to face your post-trip emotions and situations wisely. Here are a few tips to help you cut down on that sluggish feeling. Here are a few tips to help you cut down on that sluggish feeling.

Start with small tasks such as visiting the supermarket and grocery shop to stock food and other household items, and bring back your home "alive" the way it was before you set it for your "away" settings - checking on the electronics, fringe, water supply, security lights, alarms, etc.

Unpack at your own pace, but plan to be done with the process by the first weekend after you are back from your vacation. This gives you a sense of peace knowing that you have put the vacation behind you and are ready for the routine. Unpacking also means those souvenirs, jewellery, clothes, and other items that you bought while on vacation. Organise your trip mementos and souvenirs.

Fix your laundry the first week so as to avoid a pile of dirty laundry when you start your normal routine. If you planned to be back on a Thursday or Friday, you could set aside one of the days to do laundry so that you have a free day to relax your mind and body as you prepare to get back to a normal schedule.

Try to have enough sleep so that you "kick-off" that jet lag or the exhaustion of a long drive to allow your body to get back into a regular sleep routine. You can do this by getting into bed at your normal time.

Take care of yourself, mentally, physically, and spiritually. Exhaustion can lead to complicated health issues. Travel may have taken a toll on you, so consider a healthy routine to avoid burnout when you get back to your normal routine.