Returning from vacation is always bittersweet. You have the amazing memories you’ve created while away, but you also face harsh reality when you get back to your normal life as you know it. The pressures of work, family and duty can drain you quickly of all that relaxation you are trying so desperately to keep alive in your psyche.
Here are six strategies to keep your vacation spirit alive as you return to real life.
- Environment Matters. Did you ever notice one of the elements that is so hard to replicate from when you are away is the environment? The sound of the waves or the scent of the salty air just to name a few? If you really think about it, the space around you creates a definite mood; happy, chaotic, depressing… Stay aware of the backdrop you create for yourself and make it as peaceful and reminiscent as possible of a positive experience.
- Know your Threshold for Overload. Overwhelm is a constant in most of our daily lives. Of course it is unavoidable, but it is more manageable than we let it be most of the time. Setting limits of how much of yourself you give away at one time is crucial. Not everyone needs what they want at the exact moment they demand it. Keep your boundaries so that you can be the most you can be for others in the end.
- Chaos Begets Chaos. While organization takes work, it actually ensures there is less stress in your day to day life. Thoughtful planning for each week ahead ensures that the days themselves are less chaotic and far more enjoyable. While you can’t plan for everything, you can see most of what’s coming ahead of time. Getting in front of it actually makes life far more manageable.
- Put Limits on When Work Ends. Often times, we carry our work day with us into our evening. We replay conversations and situations that happened that day, playing out alternative and possibly more effective endings to those events. These actions cause us to relive our day over and over. Once was enough! Give yourself some well deserved time to recharge.
- Carve Out Time to Reflect. Another key piece of vacation is having so much time that isn’t designated for work activities. With that extra time afforded to you, you often rediscover who you are at your core. That core is so easy to lose in the day to day maelstrom. Taking ten minutes at the end of everyday to remind yourself what is truly important to you keeps the grand scheme in focus, no matter how exhausted you are at the end of the day.
- Do Something Fun for YOU Everyday. Vacation is about having fun. While we can’t recreate the excesses of those getaways daily simply due to funding constraints, we can do small things that make us happy each and every day on a lesser scale. The power of laughter erases many a cloudy day. Keep nuggets of happiness going with mini sessions of cheer.
Lisa Rocha Gubernick 