Are you ready to be back to work?

It may be the first day back to work for some of us. How do you feel about coming back to work? Excited or anxious? If you feel depressed or reluctant to be back, it is totally natural. You are just one of many who might be experiencing post-vacation depression. But why do some people feel energetic while some others feel inertial?

Based on the Job Demand-Resource Model, people possess all kinds of resources, including time, energy, money, good mood, and more, to handle daily demands, such as their workload or a difficult manager or coworkers. When job demands exceed an individuals’ resources available to offset demands, stress arises [1].

It is widely believed that weekends and vacation time provide opportunities for employees to restore and replenish because there are no demands during break time and resources are not depleted. Therefore, if one can restore resources necessary for their job, an individual will feel more energetic about getting back to work. On the contrary, if one cannot effectively restore resources needed, depression and anxiety can result.

Research has indeed found evidence for post-vacation depression: Compared to their psychological and physiological conditions before taking time off, people are more depressed and have higher blood pressures after getting back from vacation [2].

Furthermore, some researchers argue that simply being away from work does not replenish workers effectively. Employees need to shut themselves down and detach from work-related stressors, such as negative work reflections, when they are away [3]. Specific vacation experiences can replenish resources and improve back-to-work experience by enhancing work engagement and eliminating exhaustion [4]. Here are the dos and don’ts that lead to vacation replenishment.

Do:

• Engage in self-growth activities, such as developing new hobbies, trying new things, meeting new people, and visiting different countries.
• Think about positive work experiences, such as achieving performance goals or giving a successful presentation.

Don’t:

• Think about negative work experiences, including incomplete tasks, failures to achieve designated goals, and workplace abuse.

Next time you take a vacation, remember not to think about negative work experiences and try some new, fun things instead!

References

1. Demerouti, E., Bakker, A.B., Nachreiner, F. & Schaufeli, W.B. (2001), The job demands-resources model of burnout, Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol. 86, 499–512.
2. Eden, D. (1990). Acute and chronic job stress, strain, and vacation relief. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 45(2), 175-193.
3. Sonnentag, S., & Fritz, C. (2015). Recovery from job stress: The stressor‐detachment model as an integrative framework. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 36, 72-103.
4. Fritz, C., & Sonnentag, S. (2006). Recovery, well-being, and performance-related outcomes: The role of workload and vacation experiences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(4), 936-945.