I don’t want to go back to work

Today I’m going to write about a little bit of a different topic and more from a personal point of view: I don’t want to go back to work. I want to share my thoughts about going back to work in case it might help someone else dreading returning to their job.

I’m on my summer holiday from my day job and I have been working on my side business here on I Hate Working. The summer has been crazy good so far. We have had actual sunshine and warm temperatures after two cold summers.

I’m enjoying every second of it and really don’t want to go back to work. Fortunately, I still have a couple weeks of holiday left.

Just the thought of endless days at work during the dark winter months makes me physically nauseous. It feels like a different world compared to the one I am living in right now.

This takes us to my first tip.

Don’t think about work until you really have to

When you are on a holiday or some other break from work, it really doesn’t help to think about work. You probably can’t (or shouldn’t) do anything to contribute to your job so it’s no use to think about it at all.

Sure it can be tough to not think about work, but if you actively try to avoid it you can be pretty successful. Returning to work after a break is probably going to suck as much regardless how much you think about it while away.

Worrying about it the whole time you are away doesn’t make it any easier, it actually makes it harder. You are enforcing a negative though pattern you have associated with your job. So once you do return to work, all that built up anxiety is going to make it even harder.

So focus on relaxing and doing things that make you happy. You deserve it!

Avoid everything related to your job

Like I said, just the thought of my day job and winter makes me physically nauseous at this point as I’m enjoying the freedom and summer so much. It makes my stomach turn.

That’s why I’m doing everything in my power to not to think about my day job.

This means I avoid going to the part of the town where my office is situated at.

It means I avoid reading the local news as the news are full of stuff associated with my work.

I have actually taken this so far that I have almost stopped following the news all together during my holiday. Not just the local ones. News are full of stuff reminding of my work, if not directly then indirectly.

News are full of negative and stressful stuff and I really think it’s good take a break from them also every now and then. Even though I do think intelligent people should follow the news and be aware of what’s happening in the society, locally and globally.

I also avoid socializing with people from my work place. If I bump in to some one, I say hi, but I refuse to talk about work related stuff.

I also avoid giving professional advice related to my work to people and tell them I’m on my holiday.

So I try to avoid anything that reminds me of my day job really. This way I get a real break from work and my mind get’s to refresh.

Like I mentioned before, dreading returning to work is complete waste of time. You could be using that time to enjoy yourself or do something productive, like building a business or educating yourself on something useful.

I know some of my colleagues check their work email every day during their holiday and have their work phone with them. This is something I can’t understand. It’s like you never left the office in the first place.

Things that help me go back to work

The biggest thing that helps me go back to work is to know that I have a contingency plan. I’m building a business to work for myself.

Even though I’m on my holiday, I have dedicated time almost every day to work on my online business. This doesn’t feel like working though. It gives me a great feeling of accomplishment and makes me happy knowing I’m pushing my business forward every day.

If I were to stop working on my business during the holiday, I know I would feel hopeless returning to work. It would seem so much more permanent as I would know I’ve lost the momentum in building my online business. It’s very important to work on your business every day to get things rolling in the beginning.

During my holiday I also spend time doing other things I love. I hang out with family and friends, I play music, I lift at the gym, I walk in the nature, I go swimming, I travel.

Doing as much of these things as possible, now that I have the time, helps me remind me there are other things in life besides work.

During the winter it feels there’s just work and chores. It’s easy to get depressed and stressed when you lose sight of what life is really about.

It’s about the good times in case you missed it!

Knowing these things will be there even when returning to work makes it that much easier. You have to remember that work is just one small bit of your life, not its purpose.

Why I don’t want to go back to work

The biggest thing that makes me dread returning to work is the stress. I work in an expert role and have quite a lot of responsibility.

There is always something that’s gone wrong from someones point of view. Lot of the stuff I do includes many parties and the end results rarely pleases everyone.

This is something that gives me quite a bit of stress. Many times I get complaints even when I did everything right. Fortunately I rarely get any complaints from my own organization. It’s the customers and associates.

I know logically I have done my work well but emotionally I feel like I have failed because of the constant negative feedback.

The last thing I don’t like is the lack of freedom. I love to travel and having full time desk jockey job means I only get to travel couple times a year.

If you are in a similar situation you should really think about what exactly are things that cause you not to want to go back to work. Then do your best to change that.

If you really hate the thought about going back to work it might be time to think about quitting your job. I wrote a post about how to do that correctly. There are other options so don’t lose hope!

Conclusion

There you have it. My reasons and tips for not wanting to go back to work. I hope they offer you some home help. Tell me what you think about them in the comments section below. I promise to get back to you!

So what are your reasons for not wanting to get back to work?