Nakakatamad! (How to motivate yourself to get back to work after the holidays)

Let’s admit it, nakakatamad to go back to work after the holiday season. 

Before Christmas, we might have already said this on a few or many items in our to do list, “I’ll tackle this next year!” And then next year is here. And then you find yourself dragging your feet to work, “Where’s all the excitement and enthusiasm to start the year right? I still want a few more days!”

As I write this article, I am actually feeling the above sentiment. We had our traditional family year-ender that includes Family Goal Setting (to know more about it click FresFausto FGS Featured in US Show and What's your Family Goal Setting Template?) at SETIR (Sunlight EcoTourism Insland Resort) located in Culion, Calamianes group of islands, Northern Palawan. I don’t take an active part in arranging family trips and so I have the luxury of allowing myself to be surprised during the trip. This one was arranged by our youngest son, Anton. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise for me. Here are some of the positive things about his choice.

1. The resort uses a private hangar so the usual hassles of check-in and most especially, the exposure to more travelers, are eliminated. 
    
2. The beach is beautiful, with white sand with no algae. Yey!  
    
3. Since it’s a private beach, it is not crowded and there were times that we had some parts of the beach all to ourselves.
    
4. I love the veranda which is right smack on the water because the villas are on stilts! Every morning, I woke up to the beautiful view of the mountains and sea. 
    
5. The package price was reasonable at P175,000 for five adults in two villas with a connecting sala, inclusive of airfare, land and sea transfers, breakfast, New Year’s Eve dinner with live band, countdown pica-pica and drinks, massage for five, free use of facilities and some water sports, farewell dinner on our last night, and P8,000 consumable that you can use for meals, etc.

So, after enjoying all the above, and having been pumped up with the expressions of gratitude for the blessings (as well as the challenges) of 2021, and sharing our goals for 2022, it is still not easy to go back to work full speed. 

Here are some tips to make it easier to go back to work after a vacation.

1. Acknowledge that feeling of “Ayoko pa mag-trabaho!” Going on a vacation is also tiring so don’t expect yourself to be jumping for joy to be back at work. Not having that expected “recharged feeling” is fine, you’re not a bad person. 
    
2. If possible, come back home a day or two before going back to work. Huwag isagad. You’re not a machine that can be easily switched on back to work. When it comes to important meetings, allow yourself, a few days to get back to the groove. Even stories and movies need that stage called falling action after a climax. This is the part where you tidy up loose ends. It’s the same for your work, you need that transition time. 
    
3. If you want to prolong the happy effect of your vacation, bring home something other than a ref magnet from your vacation place. This could be a snack that you can take while you work, a ballpen, notepad, scents, or whatever item that you can put in your work area. If you failed to bring any souvenir, just articulate the good things that happened in your vacation. Maybe that’s why I shared with you the five things I loved about our vacation at the start of this article. It’s my way of prolonging the happy effect in me. 
    
4. Music always helps boost your energy. Maybe a quick exercise while you play your favorite dance music full blast will do the trick in getting back your work energy. (I share some of my favorites in the podcast version of this article.)
    
5. Bring out your 2022 List. Choose the most important or maybe the easiest things to do first, then work your way through. Ticking something right away gives you the feeling of accomplishment and progress.
    
6. Start putting some “personal appointments” on your calendar. Write down the mini-milestones so that it will be easier to track your progress throughout the year. In our case, we have a quarterly assessment of our goals. If you have accountability partner(s), schedule these meetings with them already.
    
7. If your dread for back to work is so strong that you need the thought of another vacation to power you through, then by all means, plan your next one. That way, you have something to look forward to. It’s like setting a deadline of finishing some tasks before you go on your next vacation. 
    
8. Chat with a friend. We are social beings and all these bubble fatigue can really get to our head. Sharing a hearty laughter with someone you haven’t talked to in a long while (even just through the phone) may just do the trick. 
    
9. Nike it! Just do it. This is usually the solution to lack of motivation to go back to work. Once you start doing what you have to do, the energy and excitement follow.
    
10. If all these are not enough to motivate you back to work, it’s time to assess your work. Maybe it’s time to look for another job?

I hope the above tips will help you get back to work. Let’s all have a great 2022, no matter what challenges we will face. Cheers to high FQ! 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. Join me in FQ Lessons with FQ Mom on Jan. 6, 2022, Thursday at 11 a.m. We will talk about the different personalities when it comes to handling money. In other words, your PERA-SONALITIES, with our guest Jayson Logan Lo, author of YOUnique.

2. Thank you to everyone who availed of our Christmas book promo. I hope you are all enjoying your FQ books. If for any reason, you have not yet received your books, please inform us at FQTeam@FQMom.com with subject MY FQ BOOKS.

3. To those who requested for the Goal Setting Templates via email to FQTeam@FQMom.com, I look forward to hearing from you sharing your goal setting experiences.

4. If you haven’t taken the FQ test yet, or have taken in on or before June 2021, it may be time to take the test again.

This article is also published in FQMom.com.