Do you feel like you need a holiday after your holiday? Australia has a unique way of spending the season, compared to our northern hemisphere counterparts; summer holidays and festive obligations all rolled into one. Whenever anyone asks me how I enjoyed my break, I answer honestly, “too much food, too much family.” I mean, I like both, but overindulgence in either can lead to swearing off them for a while. Additionally, we return to work and the weather is good, some of your friends have relocated to the beach for the school holidays and if you do have school-aged children, keeping them busy while you’re back at work is a special type of torture.
All of this might mean you’ve had time off, but not at all enough time to relax, reinvigorate or recover.
It’s January already and all the gears are crunching into action for the year ahead.
Keep positive! There are changes you can implement to keep a good pace and start the year strong, without bursting into the air and fading out like a firework.
Adopt some clever changes to your routine in the new year to help you transition back into work. Perhaps they will become a new way of working that maintains your get-up-and-go, making everything feel like less of a grind.
Plan Well
Plan everything. I know, it sounds counter-intuitive to being in the moment and enjoying your day, but trust us. Without a plan, your time will just get sucked into the work day and all of a sudden you’ve been sitting at your desk for a whole 8-hour stretch.
Prioritise your tasks from critical to non-urgent. Normalise turning down meetings or discussions that don’t require your attendance, input or action.
Schedule time for rest and activities. Put your lunch break in your calendar. Even add in a coffee run, if it is part of your day. If there’s a class at the gym you want to go to, make sure it’s in there too. Reminding yourself that these activities form part of your day helps you actually do them.
Break Well
Once you’ve allocated your break time in your calendar, give it a name. Be specific. Writing exactly what you intend to do at that time makes it easier to stick to it. If you intend to spend your lunch break sitting out in the sun, reading a few chapters of your book or catching up with a friend, write that in there. This makes it so much easier to stick to and also shows you that your day has, in fact, had some you time,
Snack Well
Choose foods that are meant to refuel you, not slow you down. Foods that are high in sugar or highly processed might give you a quick spike, but you know you’re going to have that crash.
Bananas and apples are an easy and quick snack that contain natural sugars that provide energy and fibre to slow down the digestion of those sugars resulting in a sustained release of fuel for your body.
Nuts and seeds are also a great, ready-to eat, on-the-go snack and are full of omega-3 fatty acids which can help reduce fatigue.
Add a banana to your breakfast smoothie, take some seeds and nuts to snack on at work or add “eat an apple” to the 10:30am time-slot in your calendar.
Move Well
No secrets here. We know that exercise improves your mood, cognitive function and helps you sleep at night. When you feel great, think fast and have had a good night’s rest, you will feel more fulfilled and less overwhelmed.
No time is no excuse. Start the day wearing some sturdy footwear and race down to your local café the next time you go for that double shot flat white or matcha latte. 30 minutes of exercise is all you need to start feeling the benefits.
Bonus tip: Stay hydrated if you’re going to run and have a coffee or tea. Caffeinated drinks have the ability to dehydrate your body. Did you know that that crashing and burning feeling after your coffee has done its job is partly due to its dehydrating properties? Drinking water while you have your coffee is a great way of mitigating or even completely avoiding those effects.
Rest Well
If you’re super busy, chances are, you’re mentally exhausted. If you need to rest your mind, find ways to practice mindfulness.
Doing something you enjoy is a practical way of being mindful. And, this does not mean scrolling on your phone. That’s the opposite of mindful, it’s mindless. When you’re doing something you enjoy, you’re paying attention and being in the moment. It is being conscious of your actions and your feelings in that moment and slowing down the swirling thoughts about what you did that day, what you need to do tomorrow, what’s in the fridge, what bill needs to be paid and did you respond to that email? Slow. Your. Mind.
This is your thing. Whatever it is; cooking, reading, gardening, weight training, walking, interpretive dance, writing haikus, dedicate your time and mind to being immersed in that one thing. You will feel energised and restored.
If you can interweave these into your routine and carve out time during your work week to prioritise you, you may find that work-life balance.
