Feeling nostalgic for summer? How to beat the back-to-work blues

Feeling nostalgic for summer? How to beat the back-to-work blues The alarm jolts you awake, signalling the end of summer leave and the start of a flooded inbox. Last week life felt different—late nights, lazy mornings spent juggling household fun and personal time. Even if you enjoy your work, shifting from holiday mode to office routine can be tough, especially in September when daylight begins to wane. Below are several strategies to smooth that transition. It may be tempting to dive straight into the most demanding task, but careers manager Sarah Robinson advises easing back in. She recommends beginning with small, manageable assignments and securing quick wins. “It’s about building momentum, because I think sometimes it can simply feel overwhelming when you’ve got a massive inbox,” she says. Counsellor Susan Carr concurs. She notes that while it isn’t feasible in every industry, wherever possible “be a bit kinder with your expectations of what you need to do on that first day back in the office.” That might mean dedicating time to clearing emails instead of scheduling back‑to‑back meetings. Tara Humphrey, a senior attraction work consultant, suggests keeping your out‑of‑office reply active on your first day back. “It’s about hiding, if you can, just to give yourself that bit of headspace,” she says. She also points out that a clearly written out‑of‑office note can ease re‑entry by prompting colleagues to follow up when you return, alleviating worry about missing anything important while away. An alternative approach, she recalls, involved a colleague who simply deleted every email received during his holiday. “He said, ‘if people want me, they’ll come back to me.’” Stay touristy – but at home Carr adds that it’s worth recalling what you enjoyed on holiday and considering “whether there’s a way of integrating more of that into your daily life.” While a daily siesta may be unrealistic, she suggests trying to cook some Spanish dishes. She also encourages retaining the curiosity you feel when visiting a new place and acting as a tourist in your own neighbourhood. “If we go somewhere else… we might be looking at the architecture, visiting buildings, and I think – and I know I’m guilty of this in Manchester – we don’t always notice what’s right on our doorstep,” she says. Psychotherapist Dr Joy Conlon, who runs the wellbeing coaching service Alive 365, agrees. “Bring one restorative element of the holiday home with you. This could be an evening walk, eating without staring at a screen, reading before furniture instead of being glued to a surface, or simply spending more time outdoors.” Looking beyond the symptoms Rather than merely treating the symptoms, Carr suggests examining the root cause of the back‑to‑work slump. Before becoming a counsellor, she worked as a solicitor. “I was vaguely aware before I went on holiday that things weren’t right and I was quite stressed,” she says. “I went away on holiday and then came back and suddenly I was in floods of tears every day. It wasn’t just a matter of needing time to adjust; it was a signal I needed a rethink.” How can you distinguish a fleeting longing for lazy lie‑ins from genuine dissatisfaction with your job? “It rather aptly sounds obvious,” Carr says, “but I think one of the signs is how long it goes on for.” “It’s that amount of time but also possibly the intensity of the feelings.” Lying on a sunbed can make it easy to fantasise about quitting everything and retraining as a scuba‑diving instructor or yoga teacher, but Carr warns against a knee‑jerk reaction. “It’s about taking time and reflecting on how you might go about making a change.” Book your next holiday – and make it active The enjoyment and benefit of a break aren’t solely derived from the time off itself; the anticipation also plays a key role, says Dr Mark Williamson, chief enforcement officer of the charity Action for Happiness. Moreover, the type of holiday and its duration can influence the overall impact. Williamson highlights what he describes as “genuinely surprising” research, external, indicating that physically active holidays may boost wellbeing more than simply lounging by the pool. “If you engage in walking, cycling, swimming, or exploring, you’re more likely to return feeling refreshed,” he adds. Another factor to weigh is the length of your upcoming break. “Longer breaks give a bigger boost, but they seem to fade faster, partly because you return to a larger workload.” “There is some evidence that shorter, more frequent breaks deliver greater wellbeing benefits. The refresh from five days away may not feel far removed from ten, but you can experience it twice as often.”