Dreading going back to work? How to ease the post-Christmas return

For many, this weekend marks the final pause of the Christmas break – a moment when most are still officially off work, but mentally edging closer to what comes next.

After weeks of late nights, family time and a slower pace, the shift back to routine can bring a mix of reluctance, anxiety and low energy – even if you don’t dislike your job.

Psychologists and workplace experts say that feeling is common and the challenge is less about finding the motivation to return to work and more about adjusting your mindset.

That mindset starts with how you frame the weekend, Sunday in particular.

Beth Hope, an executive coach, says “Sunday blues” are very common and usually come from anticipatory stress, where the brain predicts a high demand on Monday and “activates the stress response early”.

Hope says one of the most effective strategies in dealing with Sunday scaries is to “create a gentle bridge between weekend and work mode” so the return doesn’t feel so abrupt.

Some of the simplest ways to do that include:

• Planning Monday’s top priority on Friday afternoon, giving the week “a clear starting point rather than an overwhelming one”

• Keeping Sunday evenings calmer and lighter on screens to reduce stimulation and allow the brain to settle

• Avoiding ‘soft launches’ into work, such as checking emails or mentally planning tasks late on Sunday

Hope also suggests being more intentional with how the final day of the weekend is spent.

If switching off feels difficult, schedule something absorbing like exercise, seeing friends or doing something creative that fully occupies your attention.

Hope adds that creating small and familiar rituals like going for a short walk, taking a warm shower or laying out work clothes for the next day can also make a difference, particularly if you feel mentally scattered.

If worries still linger, especially at bedtime, Hope says a “thought download” can help.

“Spend a few minutes writing down tasks, worries or decisions that are looping in your mind to help externalise mental clutter.

“Once it’s written down, the brain no longer feels the need to rehearse it, which can reduce anxiety and improve sleep.”

For those who find the anxiety of Sunday extending well beyond Monday morning, Denise Byrne, a wellness coach, says the problem is often not motivation, but overload.

“After an extended break, it’s common for motivation and concentration to feel lower than expected,” says Byrne.

Rather than seeing this as a failure, January should be treated as a transition and reset period where you intentionally design how you want to work going forward.”

She recommends a reset built around three key practices:

“In your first few days back, take note of how your time is actually spent,” Byrne says. Many people react to emails, meetings and demands, then wonder where the time has gone.

Tracking things like meetings, screen time and focused work “highlights where time is leaking and what’s genuinely productive”.

With this information you can “reduce unnecessary meetings or create more protected focus time, rather than slipping back into habits that don’t serve you”.

January, Byrne says, is an ideal time to notice which tasks, conversations or ways of working leave you feeling depleted.

“Pay attention to when your energy dips and what tends to cause it” as once those patterns are clearer, they can be managed more intentionally.

“That means you could group draining tasks together, shorten meetings or schedule demanding work at times when energy is naturally higher.”

After time off, structure can feel restrictive, but Byrne says the opposite is true as “structure creates freedom”.

Time-blocking your calendar, batching similar tasks and prioritising certain bits of work can reduce mental overload and decision fatigue.

“When everything feels urgent in January, having a clear system helps you focus on what truly matters and prevents overwhelm from creeping in early in the year.”

That experience resonates with Lesley Cooper, the CEO of a consultancy business, who says it’s “inevitable that there is reluctance about ending time off and getting back into a routine”.

Although she doesn’t feel great about returning to work, she focuses on “deliberate rituals like a regular sleep schedule, good nutrition and hydration to feel like I am taking structured responsibility towards getting back into the swing”.

As soon as she returns to work she also sets herself some clear, meaningful but achievable tasks that are purposefully quite small so she can “feel a sense of accomplishment rather than defeat from the outset”.

Cooper adds that she also tries to “be intentional about scheduling time in the first days back to catch up with people, human to human, before diving back into task mode”.

As a leader, she encourages her team to do the same.

“I try to keep expectations lower in the first few days back to avoid that sinking feeling of ‘here we go again… too much to do and not enough time to do it.'”