Post-vacation Blues

Post-vacation blues! That’s how I feel right now. The feeling that you should be sprawled on the bed, binge-watching a TV series instead of sitting on the office chair, typing away. The feeling that you should be boiling rice in the kitchen instead of wondering when to buy lunch from the nearest restaurant. The feeling that you should sleep till 11:00 am without leaving very early to face the Lagos traffic.

That’s how it feels to back to work after having a two weeks break. A friend had teased me a night before resumption.

“Eeyah…you’ll resume work tomorrow morning. Don’t cry too much ehn!”

I was less concerned. The two weeks break was fun and relaxing…but surprisingly, I had missed sniffing the carbon emission from buses and scampering down the busy road. So yes, I was eager to resume!

Monday morning was a bit of a disaster. I was used to waking up late and reaching for breakfast…then settling down to read a novel and watch a novel. It was entirely different. I had to take my bath and cook breakfast very early in preparation for going to work.

The ‘after-prayer’ sleep I’d been relishing for the past two weeks almost cost me an extra transport. I was ‘sweet-dreaming’ in the bus when the shrill sound of ‘Oshodi fifty naira! Oshodi fifty naira!’ filled my ears. I opened my eyes suddenly to see the glaring sign of ‘OJOTA BUS STOP!’

‘I’ll drop here! I’ll drop here.’ I screamed, clutching my bag and jostling towards the entrance. A man had greeted me but I was too much in a hurry that I just muttered some words in return.

Grateful that I wouldn’t face the stress of going past my bus stop, I walked swiftly towards the next bus stop.

Believe me, work was fun. I was glad to see my colleagues again and be in a working environment. I was excited to sit on my special chair and complete my daily target. Even when I was leaving for home, I felt thrilled to view the streets of Lagos and buy snacks from my regular customer.

But it all changed the next day. Life felt like a routine again. I experienced writers’ block. Cooking very early in the morning was cumbersome because I wasn’t used to waking up very early in the morning. 9-5 work (8-6 actually) felt like a prison. I would go to the restaurant for lunch and wish that I could remain there till evening. I would check time intermittently, wishing that seconds would turn into minutes and minutes into hours. I had a project to submit at the office but ideas were not forthcoming. I would imagine myself sleeping at home and making up for the hours I’d spent on the road. I admired business owners and students (students would think they have no freedom but your schedules will become tighter when you’ve turned into a working-class person).

I would entertain myself with things like this (taking a picture of one of my favourite shoes!)

Then I stumbled on an article dealing with the feeling of facing your 9-5 job again after spending weeks at home. Surprisingly, the feeling was peculiar to every working-class individual. The article gave guidelines such as spending time with colleagues and creating conversations with them. Yes, that I had done. It talked about having snacks (I have eaten chicken, chips, chocolate, peanut, sausage roll...just name it). It talked about going to the restaurant to unwind. That had also been implemented.

Okay… I decided to give myself a break and not get pressured. I triedddd my best to submit a project and wrote articles halfway.

I was discussing with a colleague last week and he said that he was facing the same challenge. Really? So it is completely normal!

It was at that moment that I decided to give myself a break…Here I am, typing away and concluding that my post-vacation blues is over! But it isn't over. With time, I'll get over this instead of having the thoughts of running away.