Even if you love your job, everyone needs a bit of downtime. Following the serenity of a Christmas break, work can feel like a bit of a slog the first few days.
“After having some relaxing time off over Christmas and breaking with routine, it’s quite normal to feel a little flat when the holidays are at an end,” Amanda Johnston, psychologist at Konekt, said. “Generally these feelings are temporary, a period of adjustment while you reacquaint yourself with your day-to-day routine. And there are a number of things you can do to beat the post-holiday blues and ease back into work.”
Johnston and Konekt outlined a number of key areas that managers should address themselves, as well as encourage their staff to take on:
Look after yourself. Good health is important upon return. Employees should be well rested, eating well and drinking plenty of water to keep themselves feeling good throughout the day. A bit of exercise and some ‘relaxation time’ everyday will also help. While these tips can be applied to any day at work, a new year might be the perfect excuse to get a jump on it.
Communicate. Open communication is crucial to beating stress or other issues. If you begin to feel stressed, discuss this with your immediate supervisor or manager to make sure they’re aware,” Kit Underdown, psychologist at Konekt, explained.
You should use the opportunity of the new year to tackle any problems in your team, too. The new year will bring its own challenges, and you can ensure you and you staff are ready through the following:
- Review employees’ workloads upon their return from Christmas to help them prioritise.
- Meet regularly with staff, even if it is just a short catch up to discuss activities and issues.
- Ask how your staff is feeling and listen to their answers.
- Improve workplace communication by sharing information with employees – this will help reduce uncertainty about their jobs and futures.
- Provide responsibility and accountability through ownership and incentives. If workers feel they are a part of the company’s progress in the New Year, this will cultivate a more ‘entrepreneurial’ work environment.
