Vanishing Act?

Have you lost your post holiday 'new me'?

It is one of the great mysteries of the human condition right up there with the Loch Ness Monster, that one can meticulously craft a 'New Me' workplace blueprint, only to have it instantaneously incinerated.

You arrive each day at the car park, smelling of resolve. You have intentions. You are going to be a zen or productivity master, set boundaries, prioritise strategically, take a proper breaks and then it suddenly feels like you never left. Read: The snap back!

Blame your brain (specifically the basal ganglia), the part responsible for habits and procedural memory. While your vacay brain was busy dreaming of a streamlined you, your basal ganglia was simply lying in wait, clutching the pre-vacay blueprints of all your stress patterns.

From the moment you sit in the same chair, open the same laptop, hear the same voices and pings, your brain is deafened by pre-vacay contextual cues, and within seconds your neural pathways are dialling 911.

It kinda feels like calmly explaining a new system to a colleague while part of the building behind you is being accidentally demolished by a runaway bulldozer. You try to hold onto your good intentions, but the sheer velocity of it all can be overwhelming.

The way forward? Interrupt the pattern. 

When my brain is snapping back I change the environment. Within my extraordinary limited space I’ll move and change whatever I can, I even go and sit in a different space at times. Why? Basically, I try to break the visual, audio cues that set off my basal ganglia. The open office for me is a bit like listening to 50 live podcasts on any given day (read: It’s a lot for my adhd self).

Perhaps also there's opportunity to rethink how you handle communications? Before you get jumping into a chaotic sprint to get your messages to zero, why not take a breath and rethink ... because honestly constantly reacting to every beep, chime and ding as they come in isn't helpful. Research shows it can take a whopping 23m to refocus after a distraction. Perhaps try chunking communication. Set a status message then dedicate specific times to tackle the numerous comms apps if you can. This way, you can dive into tasks with full focus, without the sting of pings.

Do you have a cognitive offramp so to speak? So when that quick question arises IRL that you know will be anything but short. My off-ramp means, I acknowledge them with my signature warmth and provide a boundary, "sounds great! I’m currently knee deep in e.g. xyz my calendar is up to date though, pick a time or shall I pop by you in while?”

What else … take your breaks seriously. Some workplace culture sometimes treat overworking like a competitive sport. Eating at a desk? Snacking constantly? Working late. Check yourself! Are you being conditioned to think this is all a sign of dedication. Research, yup, it tells us it's the opposite my friends, non-stop work causes stress to build up in your brain, having a real neurological impact. The solution? Regular breaks stops stress from accumulating, keeps your brain sharper and your energy levels higher. So, set a timer, get up, stretch, hydrate, go to the bathroom and just stop. It's not a luxury, it's a physical necessity.

I'm willing to gamble that on holiday, you likely had a lot more idle time. Some people still believe a wandering mind is inactive, again, neuroscience proves when our minds wander, different parts of our brain light up and connect, enhancing problem-solving and creativity. So schedule some down-time, it is literally one of the most productive things to do. Anything less is like being paid to be simply unimaginative and kills energy and motivation for sure!

Lastly, forgive yourself, the psychological weight of telling yourself you're failing your ‘new me’ promise to yourself is a massive drain on your brain. If you left work today, got home, lost your cool with yourself or those you love because you felt swallowed by the day, don't spiral. It wasn't a moral failure, snap-back is simply a neural reflex. Notice the patterns and break them.