Back to work with attitude

Got the back-to-work blues? ALICE SHOPLAND offers some advice.

The back-to-work blues are a common reaction when the ho-ho-ho of the festive season turns into the ho-hum of heading back to work.

Symptoms include the inability to get out of bed, lack of enthusiasm, and legs so heavy you can hardly stagger out of your front door, let alone stride purposefully across the office.

Clare Walker is a communications expert who helps people to make positive changes in their lives.

She believes we get struck by this annual affliction because of the dramatic changes to the way we spend our days.

"On holiday, people tend to feel more relaxed, carefree and able to discard part or most of their routine and responsibilities," she says.

"On average, they also spend much longer pleasing themselves and directing their own activities than they do while being part of the daily grind.

"So coming back to an environment where others may be calling the tune, and where there are deadlines, pressure, timetables and routines to deal with, can cause anyone to lose their holiday mood, even if they really like their job."

Rather than chucking in your job, Walker recommends you take heed of whatever it is that makes a holiday special - for example, relaxation, freedom or indulgence - and incorporate as much of this into your working life as you can.

"This may take some discipline, because the no-pain, no-gain culture is deeply rooted in many workplaces.

"But you will be able to pull it off if you stick to your plan. And you may well inspire those around you to do the same."

Nichola Reid, manager of Robert Walters' finance contract division, recommends that the newly returned to work take action by getting out of the office for at least an hour a day, and making some career resolutions for the new year - goals that you are passionate about and excited about achieving.

Approach it like a business plan. Define your objectives for the next 12 months, and your strategy and tactics for achieving them.

"Work is a major part of your life, so it is crucial to be the one in control of your career," she says. It's also crucial not to leave your career management to the company you work for, but drive it yourself.

Reid says the beginning of the year is always busy for recruiters, "especially February as people come back from holiday refreshed, rejuvenated and ready for a new job".

Walker says you should take the "holiday blues" as a serious indication of a need for change if many of the following apply:

* You feel discontented whenever you walk back into your working environment.

* Even the simplest of tasks take ages and leave you feeling demotivated.

* You dream of being made redundant.

* You form a precise idea of the alternative job you'd prefer.

* You feel there are big parts of the real you that are being hidden or smothered by your job.

* You never, ever talk about your job outside working hours.

* You feel like a machine while you're at work.

* Your body feels like lead when you try to get out of bed on a weekday, but light as a feather on any non-work morning.

* You would take a pay cut in order to do more interesting work.

"Even if these statements ring a bell, it's important to act as methodically as you can," says Walker.

"In many companies, employees are able to transfer into different jobs. And wherever you work, a good employer will still help you to develop as much of your real potential as possible.

"Even if you do decide that a move's for you, take your time if you can, because any issues you may have around work, co-workers or authority could well just move with you and reappear in another form.

"Often, when people resolve these kinds of issues, they find either that their job is better than they thought, or that a better opportunity presents itself naturally."

It's vital, Walker says, to work through your feelings in an orderly manner, so that you're moving towards something that's better for you, rather than moving away from the situation as a knee-jerk response to those holiday blues.

Self Works