Renew, Recharge, Rejuvenate: Your Essential Holiday Recovery Guide
The holidays are often portrayed as a time for relaxation, family gatherings, and festive fun. But in reality, many find this time more exhausting than rejuvenating. Balancing rest, productivity, and the demands of family or work commitments can be challenging. However, with a thoughtful approach, it’s possible to use the holidays to properly recharge and head into the new year feeling refreshed.
In his insightful piece, Matt Plummer, the Founder of Zarvana, explores the various ways individuals approach the holiday season. Understanding these different "holiday types" can provide valuable insights into why the festive period may not always feel as restorative as intended. Here are the three common holiday types that many people identify with:
Which Holiday Type Are You?
- The Couch Potato: After signing off from work, the Couch Potato retreats into a state of complete disengagement, aiming to binge-watch TV and do as little as possible. But by the time the holidays end, they often feel unfulfilled and unproductive. Despite the rest, the lack of meaningful activities leaves them asking, "What did I even accomplish?" Total inactivity, while tempting, doesn’t address all of your needs. Beyond rest, social connection, physical activity, and reflective time are essential for feeling truly refreshed.
- The Holiday Humbug: Holiday Humbugs never fully switch off from work, squeezing in emails or projects between family meals and gatherings. This behaviour can lead to burnout, even though it might reduce short-term stress. It’s easy to feel the pull of using holiday time to catch up on work, especially when your regular schedule feels overwhelming. But by working through the break, you miss the chance to rest and reset, which ultimately does more harm than good.
- The Workaholidayic: The Workaholidayic brings their workaholic tendencies into the holiday season, packing their schedule with events, family gatherings, and tasks. These individuals rush from one activity to the next, leaving no time to relax. The problem here often lies in poor boundaries. Whether it’s guilt over saying no or the habit of staying busy, Workaholidayics enter the New Year feeling more burnt out than when the holidays began.
How to Create a More Balanced Holiday
Recognising your default holiday mode is the first step. From there, it’s about finding balance. Here are a few ways to achieve that:
- Set Rest Goals: As with work, setting goals for rest can help you find balance. Consider how much sleep, exercise, and downtime you need. Plan your holiday to include a mix of relaxation and socialising. By being intentional, you can avoid both overdoing it and underdoing it.
- Schedule Reflection Time: Use the holiday season to reflect on your achievements and challenges from the past year. Whether through journaling or thoughtful conversations, reflection helps clear your mind and prepare for the year ahead.
- Create a Plan for the New Year: Instead of setting vague New Year’s resolutions, create a clear plan for how you’ll achieve your goals. Concrete steps, like "exercising three times a week," are more likely to lead to success than ambitious but unplanned resolutions.
- Start Meaningful Traditions: Traditions add structure to the holidays and ensure that your time off is spent in fulfilling ways. By creating and sticking to traditions, you can reduce external pressures and focus on what matters most to you.
Invest in Yourself This Holiday Season
For many, the holiday season presents a valuable chance to reset. This period offers a rare opportunity to pause, reflect, and prepare for the year ahead. But if you’re feeling stuck in the same patterns year after year, it might be time to seek guidance. Working with a professional coach can help you identify and break these patterns, allowing you to set more effective goals, manage your time, and ultimately make your holidays—and your life—more balanced and fulfilling. Whether you're aiming to boost productivity, improve your well-being, or better manage stress, coaching provides the tools and support you need. Ready to make lasting changes? Explore how coaching can help you truly thrive in the coming year.
References:
Plummer, M. (2017, December 22). How to Actually Come Back from the Holidays Feeling Refreshed. Harvard Business Review.
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