How to survive the return to work

By NEASA MACERLEAN and JULIE MIDDLETON

If you returned to work on Monday, you have probably experienced a collection of less-than-edifying experiences. And if you're smirking because you're still on holiday, here's a reminder of what awaits you.

The rude call of the alarm clock long before the sun is above the yardarm. A great difficulty heaving your carcass out of bed, leading to a sleep-in that you hadn't actually figured into your morning timetable.

A rush and stumble to the bathroom to remove the forest on your face you've actually become quite fond of (if you're male) or the forest on your legs which you are less fond of, but have been too lazy to eradicate (if you're female).

Then there's the squeeze - and for some it will be - into office clothes spurned for weeks.

And once you get to work, you find that neither body nor spirit is willing, and brain is absent without leave.

Welcome back to the office! It's enough to bring on an instant cosmic funk. Couple that with the usual reassessment of career and self that goes on this time of year and getting back into the swing of work can be tough. It's time for some seriously positive moves. Like these:

* Work out what gives you most satisfaction about work - things usually involving the task itself, a sense of achievement, and the people.

* To discover your own motivations, conduct exercises such as listing the 20 work (and non-work) landmarks in your life. If your great love as a teenager was playing in the school footie team, teamwork and camaraderie may be the main drivers for you.

* Accept that few people know that they were destined for one profession from childhood. So you have to make a determined effort to achieve happiness at work.

Note down the areas of your job that you dislike - particularly the stress factors - and work at reducing them.

If you are a stressed-out middle manager who can do nothing to cut the workload, learning time management skills is an absolute must, says trainer and author Terry Gillen. "Most people have something to learn from a very good time management course."

The authors of the handy book Just About Everything a Manager Needs to Know, Neil Flanagan and Jarvis Finger (Plum Press,$54.95), advise that one of the keys to developing a positive mental attitude is acting the part - walking, talking and acting exactly as the person you want to be - and imitating positive people.

They also recommend that you expose yourself to "high-quality information only. Look on information as food; we should be careful to feed ourselves only the best food".

And associate with positive people. "Fly with the eagles", they say, "instead of scratching with the chooks".

* Take on other responsibilities outside work if you feel you are in a career cul-de-sac. "If you feel better in one area of your life, it has a knock-on effect in others," says Gillen.

* Decide on ways to exercise more control. Anyone who feels that they are just on the receiving end of fate is inclined to feel stressed and depressed.

The singing bus driver or the tea lady with a smile are probably far happier than their colleagues because they are engaging with other human beings, improving the quality of life of others and are probably far more open to new opportunities as they come along.

* Keep a long-term focus and a sense of direction. Promise yourself to stop doing a job you hate and start building up skills - such as ways of dealing with unpleasant people - to start getting you where you want to be.

* Remember that things could be far worse. You could be working in France, where the general return to work and school at the end of the Northern Hemisphere summer - "la rentree" - puts the populace in such a bad mood that general strikes tend to follow. And after that follows a bone-numbing northern winter.

New Zealand's best summer weather is still to come, so try to plan outdoor treats for yourself after work - a walk, a swim, or a drink somewhere pleasant.

Anticipating something enjoyable will improve your working day.