Is a Certain Amount of Deconcentration After Vacation Normal?

Returning from vacation is a kind of return to reality. Do we all need some time to readjust to the business rhythm, or is it possible for that to happen “overnight”?

Question:

I wouldn’t say it’s a big problem, but I am curious about your opinion. After a long time, I spent a full three weeks on vacation, and I really rested and relaxed well.

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Upon returning to work, it’s been more than a week now, I notice that I am disorganized, forgetful, and confused, which usually doesn’t happen to me. It’s as if my thoughts and concentration are still somewhere else. I don’t know if it’s noticeable on the outside, but I know that I am not 100% myself. The work I do is generally good and interesting, and I don’t think the issue lies there… I simply can’t seem to gather myself.

Answer:

If you had “gathered yourself,” as you say, right on the first working day, we would probably be debating whether you even rested at all. You might argue that you did, while I would introduce the thesis that your head, or brain, probably never even went on vacation.

Why? Because it is natural for you to need some time after a vacation to re-enter business mode. And we cannot return if we never left, right?

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From your letter, it is not clear what your profession is, but one image comes to mind that could clearly illustrate the process of returning from vacation: when we turn off a computer and later want to turn it back on, it takes some time for the system to “boot up” and for the computer to be functional. A similar thing happens with our business part of personality. At the moment of going on vacation, we are still tense for a while, thinking about work, and we need some time before we start functioning from that private part of our personality and spending time in activities that accompany it. That would be the “turning off” of the computer, or the transition from business to private mode. Some people quickly redirect, while others need 4-5 days to truly relax and start resting. It is well known that during these periods we are more prone to a drop in immunity, and thus to getting sick, precisely because our body relaxes and defends itself less effectively against infections. Short vacations where people end up bedridden with a virus are not uncommon, for example!

True rest for a person begins precisely when the business computer in the head is turned off, and because of this process, most research indicates that an adequate measure of rest is at least 2, ideally 3 weeks.

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It has happened to you that after a long time you spent 3 weeks on vacation. Therefore, we can say that this is a kind of novelty where your private part of personality received a lot of time and attention, while the business part was “turned off.”

The phase you are in now is the rebooting of the computer, or the business part of personality, and that takes some time. Time not only for crystallizing focus, goals for the new working period, and priorities in accordance with them, but also for returning to the rhythm of work life, the schedule of concentration over 8 hours, as well as general business topics and vocabulary…

Everything is fine. The fact that you are unfocused and confused only indicates that you have rested well this time! And although this may frustrate you at this moment, as you say, you are not 100% yourself, very soon your computer will boot up to full functionality and create a good working foundation for your business part of personality. You will carry it organized, focused, and efficiently until the next vacation…

Do you want to (anonymously) ask a question about your business challenge/dilemma/question? Write to [email protected]

Ana-Marija Vidjak, educator and coach www.sto-ako-ipak.hr