HR director named the reasons for anxiety about going to work after a vacation

This year's January holidays have become a record number of rest days. After graduation, people often experience so-called "post-holiday burnout." Valentina Romanova, HR Director of the Level Group, told Izvestia on January 4 about why it occurs and how best to prepare yourself for going to work.

According to her, the term "burnout" is used incorrectly in this case. Most often, we are talking about stress readaptation, a normal reaction of the body to a regime change.

"This is familiar to many, when you need to go to work after the end of your vacation, melancholy, sadness, and apathy may appear. And the first days are completely connected with a lack of understanding of how to work and what to undertake. This is normal, we switch from rest mode to work mode and adapt to the changes. This condition usually lasts for several days or the first working week, and we return to our usual work schedule. Burnout is a completely different condition that occurs due to prolonged disregard of their needs and loss of meaning," the expert explained.

She noted that it is important for a person to carefully monitor their own condition and understand the true causes of loss of strength. If returning to the office after the holidays is accompanied by a feeling of exhaustion, you should think about whether this is due to a long rest or a lack of interest in work. Romanova explained that some employees perceive work as a source of inspiration and by the middle of the holidays they begin to miss activities, while others greet the first working day with anxiety. According to the HR director, in the latter case, the reasons for the deterioration of well-being lie not in the downed mode, but in the loss of professional motivation, which may indicate signs of burnout.

To return to working mode gently and without sudden stress, the expert recommends preparing the body and schedule in advance.

"Try to adjust your sleep schedule in two to three days and bring it closer to your standard wake-up time. If you wake up for work at 7 a.m., and your sleep schedule has gone awry during the holidays and you get up much later, start gradually shifting your wake-up time so that you feel alert and active by the time you start work. From the point of view of planning, it is important to approach returning to work in much the same way as from a long vacation. Write down your tasks for a week or a month and try to distribute it evenly, rather than rolling mountains," Romanova concluded.

Summer Prize: Teachers complain about refusals to grant them full vacations

The school management fears that it will be necessary to recover the funds paid for the rest if the teacher does not work for a year.

On December 8, HR specialist Zulia Loikova spoke about the advantageous months for vacations in 2026. The most working days next year will be in July — 23 working days. 22 days each — in April, September, October, December. Therefore, it is profitable to take a vacation in 2026 during these months, because the cost of a working day is the lowest. And if the goal is to have a good rest, you should choose months with more holidays so that there are more days off.

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