7 tips to avoid a holiday depression!

…back from holiday and depressed because it's over. After endless weeks of travelling with the family or a weekend away with your sweetheart… Whether you've unpacked your bags or not...you may just be dealing with a different kind of 'baggage': that nagging feeling of missing...a kind of mourning and sadness. This condition has a name: Post Holiday Syndrome, aka the post-holiday depression. How do you make sure you get off to a good start after your days off?

1. Don't go to work right away

After returning from your holiday, plan a few more days off to calm down and get used to your 'daily' life again. I spoke to several guests who immediately started working again on the Monday after leaving 't Erf. The Sunday evening before the first working day turns out to be the lowest point of the holiday depression for many people.

2. Go slow: build up your work slowly

People who start working on the Monday after their holiday, appear to lose their holiday feeling sooner than those who start on a Wednesday! A short first week at work with the weekend already in sight can help you to preserve that great holiday feeling for a longer time. If you can't organize to start on Wednesday, work fewer hours during the first week. Go slow!

3. Enjoy at home

Coming home is also nice. You look at your own environment with fresh eyes. Friends and family are nearby again. You have all your things within arms reach again. You can sleep in your own familiar bed again. You have work or activities that give you meaning and nice goals to work on. Consider what you missed and enjoy it even more!

4. Cherish beautiful holiday memories

Cherish beautiful holiday experiences. Exchange holiday stories with colleagues, meet up with family and friends. Take photos or tangible objects to your workplace and put them in plain sight. Everything that helps you relive those beautiful moments and to experience that relaxed holiday feeling again.

5. Don't step on the scales immediately

Don't step on the scales immediately after getting home, because that is often disappointing. Most people gain a pound or so during the holidays. Some even more. That won't make you happy. Give yourself some time to get back to your own weight and schedule and plan that appointment with your scales a few weeks later.

6. Put a holiday insight into practice

Did you do or omit something during your holiday that made you think 'that makes me happy' or 'this is good for me'?  This could be, for example, reading a good novel, taking an evening walk or just doing nothing at all. Bring something that contributes to your personal well-being into your daily practice!

7. Plan your next vacation

The best way to prevent PHS is to plan your next trip.   If you can look forward to a weekend away or a holiday, that can give you positive energy. You don't have to book it right away, but you can fantasize about what you would like to do. Long live anticipation.

Did you know that as a returning guest of 't Lennepserf you get a 100 euro discount? ;-)