Children in Scotland have now returned to school, and the holidays have come and gone. Together, these events mark the end of summer – and autumn and winter loom ahead.
Many of us will have had our main holiday of the year, and it is at this time that we can feel quite disheartened and blue, knowing we probably won’t have another break until Christmas.
We can spend months planning and looking forward to our summer break, but then the holiday goes by in a flash and it’s back to normality.
We should return from our holiday feeling refreshed and recharged after spending a couple of weeks relaxing with our family on a sunny beach or perhaps trekking across exotic landscapes in a far-off land. But, afterwards, we have to come back to the reality of our normal day-to-day existence.
For those working offshore, reality can mean hard physical work in a cold, wet environment away from family and friends. No wonder it’s easy to feel dispirited.
On top of everything, we may have overspent making that holiday something really special and now have the bills from our credit cards appearing on our doormat.
Research has shown that more than 75% of workers returning from their holidays consider their stress levels will have returned to pre-holiday highs within a week of going back to work.
It can come as shock to return to working shifts away from home and having to cope with bills as well as a mountain of e-mails and work deadlines.
So what can you do to help alleviate these post-vacation blues?
You have probably taken lots of photographs while away, so why not organise them into a collection and frame your favourites so that you can look back and savour them – even offshore.
If you were holidaying in a country where you felt a particular connection, you could use your downtime to learn the language spoken there. A future visit would be much enhanced if you had more of a command of the language, and you can gain a sense of achievement by learning a new skill. You could, of course, spend time planning your next big holiday, but it can be a mistake to spend too much time looking forward to a future event.
Putting all our eggs in one “holiday basket” could be harmful in terms of our ongoing happiness and life satisfaction.
Better to make the most of the present and continue to find pleasure in some of the activities you enjoyed on holiday, such as swimming (not many miles out in the North Sea, of course).
You could take some recipe books with you to pore over and plan some exotic meals to present to your family and friends when you are back onshore.
Perhaps you spent your holiday relaxing a little too much and eating lots of rich food so that you now feel a bit sluggish.
If you are working offshore, you can take advantage of the onsite gym equipment and mix cardiovascular workouts with weights, to mitigate the damage.
What we eat affects our physical and mental wellbeing, and all that rich food consumed on holiday can add to a feeling of lethargy. Some small changes to your diet can help you to re-energise.
Try to eat five fruit and vegetables daily, and swap white bread, pasta or cereal for wholegrain varieties. And make sure you are drinking enough water each day.
Give yourself enough time to take part in “nourishing” activities such as hobbies and interests, and working hard at the parts of your job that give you personal satisfaction. Set yourself challenges that will give you a sense of achievement as well as being fun. Making the most of your everyday life can help you to feel inspired and positive.
Meg Buchanan is an occupational-health adviser at specialist Abermed
Recommended for you
