How to beat the post-PTO blues

For many of us, a vacation is the highlight of our year. We put a lot of time, energy, and money into planning our perfect trip to make the most of our time off work. So, it’s no surprise that coming back to earth and returning to work can sometimes make us feel down, but how down is normal? What if your case of the blues lasts longer?

More importantly, what can you do before, during, and after your leave to combat the post-PTO blues and look back happily on your time off? Dr. Rachel Sam consultant, career coach, and author ofHello My Name is…Happy shares some tips and tricks for beating the post-PTO blues and living a happier life.

How blue is too blue?

Dr. Sam says it’s completely normal to feel bummed after your vacation, because if you’re doing PTO right, you’re feeling relaxed and having a great time, and you’re getting a total mental and physical break. “When you’re on vacation, you’re at such a heightened level of serotonin, dopamine, and GABA that it’s almost like a natural high. When you come home you’re back to your bills and responsibilities, your duties and time constraints – it can be upsetting for anyone.” So, you don’t need to feel overly stressed about having the post-vacation blues. It’s only if they drag on that it becomes an issue.

If you haven’t got back into the swing of things after a week, if there’s no excitement around your routines, seeing the people you work with or have fun with, then that’s when Dr. Sam suggests you might want to take a deeper look. “If you leave your vacation on such a great note and the instant thought of going back to work creates dread, anxiety, heart palpitations, or crying then that would be an alarming sign, for me, in relation to your career. Most people should be excited to go back to work.” If you can’t muster any excitement for your work, you might be able to manage it for your colleagues, or the routine of it all.

Before you go

So, it’s established that pretty much all of us feel a bit down after a vacation, but what can you do to pull yourself out of it? It starts before you go away…

Write a welcome-back note

One cute trick Dr. Sam suggests doing before you go away is to write a note to your future, post-vacation self and leave it on your desk as a welcome-back note. “It’s kind of like a pick-me-up motivator to remind you why you are working, what are your priorities in life, and that the reason you’re working, is to make a living or to make a difference.” It’s a nice surprise to come back to and you can include the things you hoped to get out of your holiday, which hopefully you have. When you return to work it can help you feel good about that first morning which might feel a little overwhelming.

Prepare your out-of-office response

Don’t leave setting up your out-of-office message until the last minute. Take some time to work out how you’re going to redirect the queries you usually get and who’s best placed to help anyone emailing you. Work out a plan so that most questions can be solved in your absence and you aren’t coming back to a huge backlog of emails. In Dr. Sam’s words, “You should be redirecting them somewhere else. Let them know that you will not have access to your inbox for some time and say ‘In order to ensure your problem is solved in a timely manner, please contact…’ This is where delegation and teamwork are important.” There should be no expectation for you to reply to every message when you get back.

Communicate

Don’t keep your PTO a secret and slip out of the door the day before you hit the beach. Make sure everyone around you is aware so they can come to you with anything they need before you go. “I would even recommend 3 weeks prior to vacation to start reminding people, your peers, your supervisor, and anyone you supervise. Use every opportunity to remind people – whether that’s in meetings, water cooler chat, etc.” It doesn’t have to be formal, you can just talk to people about how excited you are – don’t become a vacation bragger, though! Add in a quick reminder the day before you head out, “Don’t forget I won’t be here tomorrow/Monday, etc.”

Plan your leave carefully

If you’re really worried about work building up while you’re away, Dr. Sam suggests taking it during a lull in your industry or during downtime. Of course, this won’t be possible for everyone, but it might simplify things for those who have the option.

While you’re away

While you’re on vacation, you shouldn’t have to think about work at all. You want to enjoy a complete mental and physical break, that’s why you’ve done all the prep.

Purge your personal devices

Dr. Sam recommends turning off all your notifications and deleting any work-related apps for a complete break. “You should not be wondering who’s going to file that folder, who’s going to pay that payroll check…” You don’t want to start resenting your work for interruptions beyond anyone’s control.

Keep a journal

This is to benefit you when you get back. Dr. Sam suggests, “Document your daily activities and reflections as a way of recording your mental state when you’re in bliss.” That way, you can look back on it when you are home and hold onto moments of happiness as you re-read it and remember the fun you had.

Find a meaningful souvenir

According to Dr. Sam, “The biggest thing with people and happiness are the five senses: Sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. What I like to recommend is to bring something back that can entertain one or all of those senses. If you’re a visual learner, maybe get a picture frame at a souvenir shop, take a picture while you’re away, and then place it somewhere you’re going to be, because it brings up positive memories of the trip.”

“Another thing is if you’re more of a tactile person, if you like to touch things that are soothing to you, a lot of people when they go out to places like the mountain or the beach pick up a rock or a seashell, you can write the date or the time on it, and then whenever you get stressed you can hold the rock and take a breather and bring yourself back to that place.” You could pick up a local perfume, scented candle, or even the sunscreen you’re using for smell, a few local treats, or even better a recipe you can make.

When you get back

You’ve got your journal, and your souvenir, and things have been handled to the best of your team’s ability while you were out. Hopefully, you’re off to a good start.

Get back into your routines

Dr. Sam says that during a vacation, we tend to take a break from our usual routines and practices like meditation, prayers, gratitude, and journaling, or even simple tasks like taking a walk, eating healthily, exercising, etc. These daily actions are key to keeping us happy and motivated. “Sometimes when people lose those and personal identity things, they start to lose passion and then when you stop your passionate activities you lose purpose, so it starts to become a slippery slope from there.” So, if you’re feeling blue, try to make yourself stick to your usual routines, they’ll help you get through.

If despite your best attempts the blues persist, maybe that’s a sign you need to re-evaluate. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need to start looking for a new job, but you might be able to make some changes that improve your happiness. Dr. Sam suggests looking at your workload, and speaking with your supervisor about “Where your interests are, where your future career aspirations lie, and how your current duties are helping or hurting your career aspiration.”

“I really think self-reflection and alignment in your personal life with your work values and goals are going to help. Whether you’re going on vacation or anything you do. Just like a company has a mission statement and a values system, you as a human being should have your own values system that helps you make the big decisions and guides you in your daily practice and interactions with other people. Self-awareness is super important.”

So, there you have it, it’s totally normal to feel a bit down after your vacation but there are lots of things you can do to mitigate the blues – just remember, some of them need putting into place before your vacation and being organized is key.

Photo: Welcome to the Jungle

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