Year End Blues – Picking yourself up and dusting off in 2022

With the festive season and holidays behind us and a hearty farewell to a year that wasn’t – it’s fair to say that 2021 was a challenging year leaving many of us with a case of year end blues.

The second full year of the pandemic brought many challenges, with new COVID variants and a slow economic recovery forcing businesses to think creatively as they begin the return back to the office.

But the issues we faced in 2021 weren’t all professional.

Reflecting on the past 12 months from a personal perspective can give rise to many different feelings. If you’re struggling to embrace the new beginnings of a new year there are a few things you can do to reset and re-balance in 2022.

Got a case of year-end blues still? Who doesn’t!

The end of the year is a major checkpoint for many of us and it’s natural to look back on the year that was and be tempted to keep score.

This type of thinking can be good from a performance point of view because it helps you to stay on track with annual goals, but it can also create a sense of failure or underachievement.

Living through a pandemic means that our goals need to be readjusted to fit the new reality we all have to deal with. From both a business and personal point of view, you may need to shift your expectations and make an effort to not compare 2021 to the years before 2020.

Using gratitude to fight negative feelings

Making time for yourself and reflecting on what’s important to you is an important element in every wellness strategy, but there’s also a danger in focusing exclusively on your life without considering others such as your colleagues, family and friends.

The difficult era we are living through is affecting everyone around the world. While we’ve all been impacted in some way, it’s safe to say that if you’re healthy, have a stable source of income, and are in a position to plan for a prosperous 2022 you’re probably in a better situation than many.
Taking a moment to practice gratitude and remembering that there will be many years after the pandemic to make up for lost time is a great way to put things into perspective.
You can take this a step further by making a choice to practice ‘giving’ in 2022, contributing to your favourite charity or worthy cause either in time or donations.

Putting your feelings and personal situation in context is a great way to feel better about where you’re at. By being a little less demanding of yourself you’ll be able to recharge your batteries ready to tackle the rest of 2022.

Don’t feel like socialising? Give yourself permission not to

The usual torrent of festive season invites and parties can leave many people in a state of exhaustion once the new year rolls in.

A new year in the workplace often means new beginnings, new meetings, and a whirlwind of activities. While it can be hard to say no to colleagues, pick your social attendance wisely and don’t over commit yourself to social obligations. You can always schedule a catch-up with specific individuals a week or two later.

On the other hand, if you’re dealing with a sense of sadness as a result of Covid-related problems or burnout, you may want to keep to yourself. There’s no timetable for grief but it is important to talk to your colleagues or boss to let them know how you are feeling.
Give yourself permission to grieve the loss but consider how much you want to share with your colleagues. You might find that the workplace can be a comforting and familiar environment to help you move on.

Rest up and look ahead

In the aftermath of the 18 months of uncertainty we have all had to deal with it’s only natural to feel a sense of fatigue but there’s also a kind of all-consuming exhaustion that we need to acknowledge.

Wellness is all about balance and if you let off a little too much steam during the festive season this could result in feelings of tiredness and fatigue in the early part of the new year. Coupled with the long-awaited return to the office this tiredness can cause unnecessary stress and anxiety and it’s important that you learn to prioritise and manage your wellbeing

As restrictions ease and employees encourage staff to return to the office take time to ease back into socialisation slowly. Give yourself and your team time to relearn all those social graces that you perhaps haven’t practiced during the pandemic. Initiate smaller group meetings and gatherings with time to rest up between in-person events.

‘Busyness’ is an Epidemic – Take a step back in 2022

We’ve become so obsessed with being busy that we see downtime as being non-productive, and many of us are guilty of it. Being busy during the COVID-19 pandemic gave us some semblance of normalcy and control but it’s time to take a step back and be purposeful.

Make intentional changes this year to be mindful of your busyness, take breaks, stop chasing perfectionism and reset regularly.

As we welcome a new year, our wish for our clients and staff is that the year is filled with good fortune, success and prosperity for all. Our team looks forward to working closely with you in 2022 to meet all your Cape Town commercial property needs.