Overcoming Post-Holiday Slump: Get Back on Track

It is the beginning of the working week in 2026. Some of us are still feeling tired and lazy.

Some are busy making plans and believing that something good might happen this year. Of course, it’s New Year – a fresh idea, new hope, and a new start.

We all seek a fresh start. That’s what the new year signifies for us all. It signals a new beginning — a chance to restart and improve.

The holiday season is a welcome break for us all, but for others, it can disrupt their daily routine.

There is only a one-week gap between Christmas and New Year, yet it felt like a long holiday.

We allowed ourselves to indulge in all the things we’d never do in our usual daily routines. We drank too much alcohol. We ate junk food, heaps of chocolate, cakes, and sweets, stayed up late at night, and the list could go on and on.

Then, we all must face reality. Going back to work and picking up where we left off is tough. It’s hard to return to our desks, once cluttered with notes and papers, where we never turned off all our electronic devices. We’ve lost our momentum with writing. No matter how much we shake our heads, nothing comes out—no words or ideas.

It’s tough when we are still feeling nostalgic about our holiday and wishing it had never finished.

It’s hard, too, when all we can think about is checking our social media for photos and messages from friends and family.

There were good laughs and memorable moments we shared with them. We reminisced about those times when we acted crazy, ridiculous, and funny, and it was perfectly okay with them. Wiping that smile off our faces was hard because that was the only time we let ourselves go and be vulnerable.

And that should have been sufficient.

Instead, we couldn’t get them out of our heads. We run out of steam and grow weary in front of that bright screen on our computer. Our minds are like film reels showing flashbacks of the best Christmas break we had.

Our daily writing routine will gradually return. We may already have thought of a better way to make our working schedules more manageable. Our writing should always find a place in our busy calendar. It will take a little time, but whatever we do, make sure it doesn’t take us that long.

We had our breaks, our time out from the daily grind in our lives.

So, it’s time to head back to work; otherwise, we will never write again.