It will feel familiar to many. Have you just returned from that wonderful holiday, at the end of your first day at work it is as if you have never been away and tiredness strikes again. And sleeping is not good either.
Doctor Jan-Pieter de Mönnink of the Ruysdael Sleep Clinic in Oisterwijk knows exactly what we are talking about and immediately reassures us: “It is a common problem, more than half of the people have a kind of post-holiday dip .”
And he also knows what causes it. It has to do with substances in our brain, the so-called happiness hormones endorphins, dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin.
“As soon as you come back, those hormones are broken down again.”
“By resting, exercising and relaxing during your holiday, you get more of those kinds of hormones,” explains De Mönnink. “But as soon as you come back and pick up the rhythm of everyday life again, those hormones are broken down again. And it is possible that you will sleep worse again.”
It often even starts as soon as you park the car in front of the house again. “As soon as you get home, the car has to be unpacked, the washing done, the grass mowed, the weeds up to your knees… these are all tasks you didn’t have during your holiday. And that disrupts the production of those happy hormones.”
Because the to-do list is often large when you return home. “Especially if you have children, for example, who are still on vacation and for whom something needs to be arranged.”
“That mountain of emails is a major stress factor.”
Actually, the transition from vacation to normal life is too great, says De Mönnink. “That transition is too sharp, you should actually start more slowly.” Even back at the office, a quiet start is often not an option. “The mailbox is central. A huge mountain of e-mails that you dread, is a major stress factor.”
What do you have to do to not immediately succumb to the post-holiday dip? To begin with, you should leave that mailbox for what it is. “Sometimes it’s more convenient to do that one or two days later. That often doesn’t matter much at all. And what I do myself: set up an out-of-office assistant that automatically emails back that people should email again on a certain date if it’s important That takes the pressure off a bit.”
“This has nothing to do with your sleep-wake cycle.”
And take the time to catch up with colleagues. “Exchanging stories from the holidays and then gradually scaling up again to how things are going at work and what jobs have been left behind.” If the work allows, of course: “This is of course theory, the question is whether it is feasible in practice.”
But that yawning and that tiredness do not necessarily mean that you have to go to bed earlier. “No,” says De Mönnink. “Unless, of course, you have jet lag from a long journey. Otherwise, this has not much to do with the sleep-wake rhythm.”