Coming back to work after one or two weeks of vacation and feeling little rested, without having the impression of having quit, is a feeling shared by many workers, especially since the pandemic. Why do we seem unable to take a relaxing vacation?
“If I stay at home during my vacation, I feel like I’m not totally escaping, but I’m resting a little… And if I go on a trip, I really relax, but I come back tired! »
Geneviève O’Meara, a 42-year-old communications specialist, thus describes the paradox of her summer vacation. She agrees that she is privileged to be able to go on a trip, but she finds that no matter what she chooses, she comes back to the office tired.
“It’s as if the benefits of going on vacation were fewer, and they are felt over a shorter period of time,” says this Laurentians resident. The week before leaving is energy-consuming and when I return, I feel like I’m chasing a train that’s already moving! »
Éric*, 48 years old, is a forklift driver in a food chain distribution center. Owner of two dogs, he goes to the Maritimes by car every year with his partner. The daily routine, whether at home or on vacation, exhausts him.
“I wait for this vacation all year,” he confides, “but it’s as if I can’t settle down or relax. The same routine repeats itself, and it’s busy. I never really enjoy my vacation and at the end of the day, it doesn’t really change my state of mind. I come back burned. »
Learn to relax
Contrary to what you might think, going on vacation does not make you happier. This is the conclusion of a study carried out in the Netherlands: it shows that the anticipation of having several days off makes you happy, but upon returning, people who have left are not happier than workers who are stayed at work… unless the first ones had a relaxing vacation.
However, relaxing on vacation is not innate.
“In the 1970s and 1980s, we believed that the 2000s would mark the end of work thanks to robots,” says Emilie Genin, professor at the School of Industrial Relations at the University of Montreal. We have never worked as much as in the 21st centurye century. Hours have lengthened in the evening and morning with an intensification of work. We became addicted to work. »
According to her, we need to question our relationship to work… and to screens.
“We could say that we always have the choice of whether or not to check our emails during vacation… but that is not entirely true, since we know that there are professional consequences to not doing so, specifies Mme Genin. It doesn’t just depend on individuals. It’s a question of leadership, workload and work organization. »
A new social norm
The fear of losing one’s job, of running out of money, especially in a context of inflation, the consumer society and the race for productivity are reasons that push workers to want to perform… even on vacation.
“The worker does not want to have twice as many emails to read after returning from vacation, so he will take them during his vacation,” summarizes Roxane de la Sablonnière, professor in the psychology department at the University of Montreal. And even if we are aware that it prevents us from dropping out and that it has an influence on our mental health, it is extremely difficult to go back. »
The social norm has changed since the pandemic: staying connected on vacation, at home or on the other side of the planet, is commonplace, even expected.
Do something else
To recover, the worker needs psychological detachment, recalls Jacques Forest, professor at the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec in Montreal (ESG UQAM). He cites the work of German researcher Sabine Sonnentag on the recovery period, which is crucial for human beings.
“Psychological detachment means succeeding in putting switch to off. No athlete trains every day, he slips, and it’s the same for workers. You must manage your energy budget to successfully banish fatigue and exhaustion. »
How ? By doing “other” activities, whether it’s doing yoga or volunteering, going to the spa or the gym, whatever. It is this change in activity which will call for calm and allow recovery, underlines the organizational psychologist.
“Who ever said to themselves: “I took too much vacation”? It’s better to take more than less… and focus on quality,” he concludes.
* Éric preferred to testify on condition of anonymity, fearing judgment from his colleagues or his employer.