A lot of you have already had your holidays (sorry to remind you…). Have you been struggling to really disconnect from work during that break? Or at least been able to keep your email closed? Did you not want to think about work, let alone do anything for it but couldn’t help yourself?
Then you might be struggling with post-holiday syndrome now. It seems that people who are really enjoying what they do professionally, usually don’t ask themselves too many questions about disconnecting or not. If however, you are not entirely sure that you are on the right track – whether you question what you do, or where, or how – some part of you will want to really get away from it during the holidays. And something even more interesting will happen when you get back. Let’s see how that post-holiday blues is really a great opportunity for you.
I’ve always been excellent at switching off from work, and diving fully into the holidays. Enjoying every moment, without any guilt. But I also remember how holidays left me dreaming of a different life, in which I would be more completely myself, and would live instead of being lived. I would imagine anything from becoming a diving instructor, to opening my own taverna to starting a training center for burned out managers somewhere in the sun. Clearly I wasn’t yet fulfilling my professional dream yet.
Going back to work would not be so bad in itself, it’s not that I had such horrible work experiences most of the time. But I would have that lingering feeling that there’s more to life, that I was only bringing a small part of myself to work, that there was so much unused energy, creativity, connectedness that didn’t have a place in my ‘normal’ life.
And I’m guessing that this is exactly what some of you are experiencing right now. Being on holidays, with no clock, no agenda, no musts, naturally reconnects us with our deeper self – and will leave us feeling re-energized and possibly slightly unnerved. Is it time to start doing what I really want in life? Should I explore my next step? Do I dare to challenge my current status-quo?
Great, excellent, good for you! Even though you probably don’t feel happy about these thoughts that are disturbing your inner peace – just allow them for a moment. There is so much wisdom in them. You don’t have to do anything drastic today. But what if you would ask yourself once a day what the one single things is that you can do RIGHT NOW. Something that would increase your real contribution. That would give space to that part of you that you usually don’t bring to work. Do this once a day, for a month. When you turn on your computer in the morning, and you are patiently (?) waiting for it to start-up, just decide: today I will do… so that I can bring a bit more of … to my work.
I’m curious. Let me know how that goes!
Nilah Nilah 