Although post-vacation blues is not officially recognized by the American Psychological Association, it is a condition that seems to affect many of us. Why? When we’re on vacation – whether we travel or not – we escape our daily routines. We indulge ourselves and adapt a more a flexible lifestyle. Returning to the reality of work is a shock.

According to an experiment published in the Journal of Applied Psychology (August 1997), study participants returned to their pre-vacation burnout level just three weeks after returning from vacation.

These 5 tips may help you postpone the stress:

1. Return to an orderly desk
Before you leave, create a first-day-back to-do list.

2. Take an extra day off
Tell people you’re returning to work a day later than you actually are. This will give you a chance to catch up on emails and voice mails, and organize the paper that accumulated during your absence.

3. Avoid Monday
Return to work on a Tuesday. This will shorten your first week back and let you avoid the Monday blahs.

4. Recover from your vacation
If you’re going out of town for your vacation, try to have at least one day home after your trip to ease back into your routines.

5. Maximize your time off
A survey conducted by Steelcase found that 43% of respondents still did some kind of work-related tasks while on vacation. Try to set some boundaries around the work that you’ll do while away. Don’t announce to your boss and co-workers that you’re available at any time. And if you simply must check your email from the cottage, limit it to 30 minutes per day.

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