Suffering Back-to-work Blues? You’re Not Alone.
Philippa’s new year began not with a resolution but a regret.
When the Wellingtonian walked out of work on December 22, her goal was to not give it another thought until late January; her four weeks of annual leave saved up to spend with friends, on house renovations and doing a whole lot of blissful nothing.
Instead, with her holiday halfway over, Philippa says she’s wasted it dreading and complaining about going back to work and whiling away her precious free time looking for an alternative.
“I honestly don’t think I can go back,” she says, with a week left before she has to, “and now I’ve spent my holiday worrying about it.”
As soon as New Zealand’s workforce began returning to their grind in January, the annual advice for beating the back-to-work blues returned to the headlines.
Dr Angela Lim, founder of the mental health and wellbeing platform Clearhead, says the term is a catch-all for the low mood, lack of motivation and general malaise experienced when time off is over and we’re back on the clock.
And while those emotions are hardly new, the Covid pandemic has exacerbated them.
“People don’t just want to to work for a pay check any more... They’re looking for meaning and purpose in their jobs.
“Also the mentality of giving your life up for work is now being questioned as a norm - people are asking ‘Why should I do that?’”
Lim says there are “four pillars” that make a good job, and when they’re lacking form the main reasons people leave. There’s that sense of purpose, opportunities to progress, social connection with colleagues, and work/life balance.
“In many ways we want to frame the back-to-work blues as a sign to ask ‘why are you feeling this way? What happened in the past 12 months that makes you feel blue instead of excited to be back?’”
If you’re feeling less than enthused, you’re certainly not in the minority.
To read the full article on The Post, please visit:
https://www.thepost.co.nz/nz-news/350143853/suffering-back-work-blues-youre-not-alone