Managing back-to-school stress

 While the number of burn-outs has doubled in one year, many experts fear an "explosion" of this pathology at the beginning of the school year 2021.

The latter promises to be particularly stressful, with a fourth epidemic wave that could occur as early as August and new health constraints. In parallel, there is also the traditional anxiety that returns at the end of the holidays.

of the vacations.

Because when we come back from vacations, when we are tanned, fresh and relaxed, it is often enough to click on our mailbox, and to look at the pile of urgent files not treated during our absence, to be again invaded by

anxiety.

A perfectly normal situation, according to Josh Klapow, clinical behavioral psychologist: "The return to the hectic pace of daily life, the accumulation of work and things to catch up on, and the weight of responsibilities often create a sense of tension, anxiety, and even sadness that may eliminate any benefits of time off."

Good news: this phenomenon is not inevitable!

Dare to slow down... and then speed up

To succeed in reaching your back-to-school goals and evolve towards a career in which you can fully realize your potential, you must start by taking a step back.

This means acting on several levels:

Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by stress

There are good practices to adopt on a daily basis to relieve the pressure:

Avoid procrastination;

Sort files by order of priority: urgent, less urgent or not at all;

Establish a retroplanning to anticipate and therefore limit emergency situations;

Schedule "deep work" periods to work without incessant interruptions and move forward much faster on each project.

Take some time for yourself

First of all, it is essential to block in your agenda an appointment with yourself (even 30 minutes at noon) to do sports, walk, meditate...

Each week, you can then take stock of all the victories or mini victories obtained.

Then, you need to set up a new positive routine, to be carried out alone or with a friend: start exercising, eat healthily, get trained...

Finally, all companies should establish moments of relaxation and conviviality with their teams. It is so much more pleasant to work in a good atmosphere!

The most important thing: give yourself the opportunity to have new dreams

The beginning of the school year is a good time to ask yourself the right questions: what do you want to do? What new projects should be launched to make your life more beautiful (love your career more, feel more confident)?

In addition, it is also useful to make a list of all the worries and sources of stress that prevent us from being serene: a reorganization within our group, the feeling of being in danger in our position, colleagues who are difficult to manage.

In order to stimulate a dynamic of action, it is then necessary to identify what would be necessary to regain the desire to go to work every morning: more recognition, more stimulating projects, more visibility within one's organization

organization...

This introspective work must end with a positive and concrete perspective: what can we do, at our level, to improve our daily life?

When nothing works, it is time to broaden our horizons. Sometimes, it is not possible to act in the short and medium term to change the situation. We have the feeling that our professional life is slipping away from us, that we are becoming spectators rather than actors...

Changing jobs seems to be an increasingly attractive option. But to transform this desire into a career move, once again, you have to dare to take your time. Prepare yourself rather than rush. This means

This means looking at internal opportunities, redoing your CV and starting to network.

These actions, which are very simple, will allow you to take a giant step forward.

This approach will allow you to define new and exciting perspectives, internally or externally, to regain your motivation and reduce the stress of the new school year.

And to move forward, all that remains is to set mini-objectives that are easily attainable: each mini-step taken will then be a great victory.