Exhaustion increases stress

The holidays are over, and focus on enjoying a better holiday next time around. Hope you had a well earned long holiday indulging in activities close to the natural rhythm of your life. After all - our ultimate goal in life is to live a happy and meaningful life.

Now that the holidays are over, it's good to reflect on what you did. Distinguish between right and not so right - learn from it to have a better holiday next time around.

Most of you spent money lavishly, travelled on holiday, had dietary-free eating and drinking, visited relatives whom you do not meet regularly, exchanged gifts and also some of you engaged in religious activities with your family members.

Mind you, holidays also bring about tension and depression. Tensions are often heightened during holidays. The very same relationships we enjoy can also cause turmoil, conflict or stress at any time. Family issues, misunderstandings and conflict can intensify.

Anticipate what can go wrong next time and avoid any potential experience that spoiled this holiday. You don't want a repetition of bad experiences - do you? Like your relationships, your financial situation can cause stress at any time of the year.

The strain of shopping, visiting friends and relatives, attending social gatherings and preparing holiday meals can make you really tired.

Feeling exhausted increases your stress, creating a vicious cycle. You got to manage this consciously. If you let your productivity suffer, it will not only affect you but your business too.

Celebrating to beat others

Some celebrate with the intention of beating others - trying to outdo the others. Holiday destinations, food and accommodation, entertaining friends and gifts are areas where comparisons are made.

Ask yourself if you knew your capacity and did what's right for you. Remember that one key to minimising holiday stress and depression is knowing what triggered them and taking steps to manage and also learn from them. Accept that things don't always go as planned - this holiday was no exception.

Challenge

Just before Avurudu there were a lot of distractions looming large to take you away from work, even if you are the most dedicated employee and you simply love what you do.

When distraction takes a hold of you, your productivity suffers and that leads to business burn-out. Loyal employees would be mindful of this and be committed to pay-back to the organisation.

While people like me went back to work on April 16, everyone will be back at work in full swing after the long holiday for all its real life challenges from tomorrow morning. 'Rejuvenated you' should make a fresh energetic start that would help you enjoy a better holiday next time around.

New Year resolutions

Revive your personal vision, goal, strategy and action plan - realign it with that of the organisation for win-win execution. Resolutions can set you up for failure if they're unrealistic. Don't resolve to change your whole life to make up for past lapses - this may be too steep for you and unrealistic.

Instead, try to return to basics, get the focus back and healthy lifestyle routines. Set smaller, more specific goals within a reasonable time-frame. The space you will find after a long holiday season is the best for this. Use it wisely.