Reset September: 5 Habits to Maintain Post-Holiday Energy
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The post-holiday glow can fade all too quickly, but are there ways you can protect your energy?
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Authors Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott offer their five tips to ease back into work
There’s nothing quite like that back-to-work dread to drain you of the post-holiday glow. For most of us, September has long marked the end of summer festivities and a return to form with school or work. If you fear sighing and sitting back down at your desk – aware of the long autumn and winter stretch ahead of you – then we have some helpful tips that (while they might not extend tan), can at least help you maintain your enthusiasm.
1. Do communication differently
We’ve all been there. Cringing through squinted eyes preparing ourselves to see just how many emails have landed in our inbox after time off. It can certainly be daunting working your way through missed messages. Even if you haven’t been away, the fact that the office is back to full capacity can make the number of emails flying feeling like an onslaught. But, instead of racing to get your inbox down to zero, why not take this chance to recalibrate the way you do communication?
Most of us handle communication in a reactive fashion – responding as and when we see queries. But this is not beneficial to our work. Research shows that it takes the average person 23 minutes to refocus after being distracted, and psychologists have maintained for a long time that multitasking isn’t possible. This is why “chunking” communication (dedicating a period of time each day to catching up, rather than replying as and when you see messages come through) is a great way to give your focus a boost, and save energy that’s usually wasted task-switching between communication and the work in front of you.
2. Take breaks seriously
In our current work culture, it sometimes feels that overworking is seen as a badge of honour. Whether it’s a sandwich at your desk or burning the midnight oil, we assume that putting in long hours equals not only dedication, but good work. The trouble is – research tells us otherwise. Of course, in stressful or demanding periods there are sometimes occasions when more work is demanded, but when this becomes the norm, our wellbeing and the quality of our work suffers as a result.
Research from Microsoft has shown that working without stop actually causes stress to build up in our brain. Not just the vague sensation of stress, but a neurological impact that can be seen using technology which monitors electrical activity within our neurology. Conversely, regular breaks were shown to prevent the accumulation of this stress – meaning sharper cognitive function. This is why prioritising breaks throughout your day is actually beneficial to your overall energy levels!
3. Start daydreaming
It hardly sounds like a tall order after coming back from a break – many of us spend those first few days back at work dreaming of our time off, anyway. But this is about more than self-indulgence. In our present day we live in a state of constant engagement, whether that’s at work or simply scrolling social media in our downtime, with the omnipresence of our devices we rarely allow ourselves to get bored anymore. While this might sound like a good thing, it’s not so brilliant for our brains. Many of us think of daydreaming as a waste of time – but neuroscience from the last two decades has changed the general view on this.
Research from the University of British Columbia has actually shown that when our minds wander, the different sections of our brain connect and light up. While scientists had expected that the mind would become less active when daydreaming, it turns out the opposite is true. Thus, they concluded that this is why the mind wandering state can be linked to enhanced problem-solving skills, and also boosted creativity. So, while you’re making time for breaks in your day – don’t forget to leave yourself some valuable daydreaming time, it’s good for your brain, and will give your creativity a boost, too!
4. Reconnect with your purpose
When caught up in the daily grind of work, it can sometimes to be hard to stay in touch with the bigger picture. On bad days, all we see is an endless array of tasks that need attending to. What’s worse, when these jobs are things we don’t particular enjoy, we sometimes end up putting work off or failing to give things our full effort. This is typically when we get into a bad work slump – but did you know that lack of purpose is one of the most common causes of procrastination?
Taking time to zoom out and see the big picture is a great way of beating the urge to avoid work, and actually bite the bullet and get your head down. You can do this via a mind map or flowchart, connecting the seemingly more menial tasks to the overarching goals of a bigger project. This helps connect you to the purpose of your work which has been shown to be highly motivating. Of course, you could extend this to even broader purposes still – such as supporting your family or furthering your career. Whatever the case, this sense of drive can be extremely energising.
5. Collaborate in a new way
With all of our communication technology, plenty of us are in constant contact with colleagues. Meeting and calls proliferate, and we generally feel more in touch than ever before. And yet! So many of us still struggle to collaborate in an exciting, fun way when it comes to generating ideas. Especially in the age of hybrid work, brainstorming can feel dry and uninspired, but by adopting a few simple tricks you can easily change this.
The first rule is to set the agenda for your brainstorming session ahead of time, and ask everyone to come with their own ideas prepped – this way you can prevent everyone falling into the trap of “group think” (where everyone agrees with each other to maintain overall harmony). From there, you can ask everyone to go round and share their ideas and discuss. Finally, spend some time chatting together, throwing out crazy ideas, safe ideas, and then trying to combine the lot. Doing this can spark a new level of collaboration that leads to exciting ideas, and stronger work connections so you feel engaged and happy at work.
Chris Griffiths and Caragh Medlicott are the authors of The Focus Fix
