Coping with Post-Holiday Depression

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

On December 31, we seem to be taking a low start position: there are long New Year holidays ahead, which will allow us to sleep until lunchtime, eat to sleep and spend time as we want. We dream either to have time to complete everything planned, or to do absolutely nothing and devote the weekend to lazy lying on the couch. Be that as it may, but almost all of us look forward to these days off from work, and then, at the end of them, curse the person who managed to come up with such a long weekend.

The thing is that after the holidays we fall into a depressive state: in contrast to yesterday's "doing nothing", today's office and the usual duties seem more than boring and depressing. All the average worker wants is to go home again and crawl under the covers with Olivier salad. “It would be better if there were no such holidays at all! How hard it is to enter into a work rhythm,”we think with sorrow and sigh doomily, closing the door of a cozy and warm apartment behind us. Of course, you can succumb to this state and humbly wait for a spark of hope for a bright future ahead. But isn't it better to gather strength and take control of the situation in order to independently decide when to work with full dedication and when to relax? Our tips will help you painlessly get out of the post-holiday depression and re-look at work in a positive way.

1. Do not divide life into "before" and "after"

We tend to believe that the holidays are the time that is given to us as a reward, and working days are a complete punishment. It is because of this belief that most of us do not even try to notice how wonderful life can be when you go to the office on a frosty winter morning, where a friendly team is waiting for you, ready to tell interesting New Year stories. We do not allow ourselves to enjoy wonderful moments, being sure that they all ended on January 8th. However, this is not so: life still goes on as usual, and you need to rejoice in it now, and not wait another whole year.

2. Don't be alone with yourself

Share difficulties with friends and family. Now they are probably as difficult as it is for you. But coping with depression is much easier when there is someone you trust, with whom you can go to the rink, laugh at silly jokes and just have a heart-to-heart talk. Don't be alone with yourself until you realize that depressive thoughts are no longer in your head. Distract yourself with nice people.

3. Don't blame yourself

Surely you decided that from the new year you will adhere to proper nutrition and read smart literature every day, but so far the plans remain plans. It is not worth now to shoulder too much burden on yourself in the form of difficult tasks: your body needs strength in order to enter the usual working rhythm, and only then it will take up the achievement of its goals. Do not overload yourself, and even more so do not blame for the fact that so far something does not work out - it is simply pointless.

4. Don't sit within four walls

Of course, you spend almost the whole day at work and at the end of your working day you hurry home, but do not rush straight from the office to the stuffy subway - find at least 15 minutes for a walk in the fresh air. If possible, go shopping or invite a friend to the skating rink. You should not voluntarily drive yourself into the conditions of “I don’t see the white light”. In fact, it is rare to meet a person who really does not have a minute to walk, most of us are simply too lazy to make adjustments to the usual "home-work-home" schedule.

5. Sleep, nutrition, physical activity

Now these three whales of good human health cannot be neglected in any way. Try to get at least 8 hours of sleep a day, ditch mayonnaise and fried fatty foods in favor of fresh, healthy foods (don't ignore bananas, dark chocolate and fermented milk products), exercise, even if the exercises are limited to 15-minute morning exercises. These seemingly banal rules can pull you out of even the most protracted and deepest post-holiday depression.

6. Relax

When you come to work, do not even try to take on everything at once, even though you have accumulated business from last year. Enter your usual routine slowly, allow yourself to perform exactly the volume that you can now do - there will still be no benefit from more stress. Take your time and, most importantly, praise yourself for each summit you take!

7. On the weekend - go out

And again we are talking about the fact that four walls and a stuffy room have not yet benefited anyone. On weekends, it's a sin not to go for a walk or go on a family ski trip to a nearby park. Do not allow yourself to be sadly looking at the winter splendor from the window - your laziness should not be an obstacle to getting rid of post-holiday depression.