When taking a break over the Christmas holidays, resist the tempatation to stay at home to “catch up household chores”.
This is one of the few times throughout the year when we get the opportunity to have some time away from the familiar so pack the car and head out of town.

There have been vaious studies that have shown that it can take anywhere from 5 to 14 days to completely unwind and relax.

So what do I mean by relaxed? well you’re not in a hurry to be anywhere, do anything.
The ultimate test is to see whether you have had a relaxing break is the “care factor” test.
Take note of how you react to work stress and tasks within the first week of returning to work.
If you feel anesthetised, in a relaxed state without being too concerned, you have had a relaxing holiday and successfully relaxed your mind, Congratulations!!

If however on returning to work you feel like you never left the place and the stress levels return back with vengeance, guess what, maybe your holiday wasn’t as relaxing as you may have thought.
So on your holiday, did you disconnect?, did you check emails, phone messages, sms messages? Are you still dreaming about work, feeling anxious & stressed?

So what will it be these holidays, switching off and relaxing, or will you return from your Christmas holidays stressed?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 am by Andrew Talati and is filed under Mind & Soul.

Tags: Mind, Relaxation, Stress, Work/Life Balance

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