How to avoid the back to work crush. 3 actions to start the new year centered + calm

Happy new year!

If you’re at all like me, the first day back to work can cause a bit of amnesia.

“How was your break?”

Good… I think?

That return to work rush and sense of needing to catch up used to nearly erase my holiday memories and the benefits of time away.

This, I know now, is the impact of stress and the chemicals it produces in our body.

Another way we might be alike is that we share a desire to create something new this year.  Perhaps we set resolutions or picked a word of the year.

But the hurried sense the return to work can bring might have those good intentions feeling distant.

The good news is, we get to do it differently this year.  

I’d love to offer some “secret” to having the best year yet but, like most wisdom, the answer is obvious.

To have the day, the week, the year you are dreaming of the thing to do is take new action.  New action that aligns to your vision for yourself.

So if this is the year you majorly adjust your relationship with stress and overwhelm, you need to take actions that help you slow down, regulate, and gain control.

Maybe this is the year you learn how to pair effort and peace at work.  You own it to yourself to identify the actions that cultivate peace and then take them.

While your dream for your experience of 2025 is uniquely yours, I have a few key actions I recommend you try out to help you usher in your dreams this year. 

1. Slow down your morning.  Commit to 30 minutes before 10:00am to sit in your work space.  You can bring your favorite warm drink and settle in.  Use this time to prepare for the day ahead.  I like to review my calendar, read my favorite newsletters or an article, check in with email, and set my intention for the day.  I resist the urge to start tasks or dive right into communication.  If you want less rush, you have to create slow, intentional times.

2. Learn some nervous system regulation practices.  Many are simple and take less than a minute but it’s useful to try out a few so you learn your favorites.  I have reels modeling some options or book a free call here and I’ll teach you some.  Bottom line, dysregulated leadership often takes us out of our values and causes us regret.  This is the year to learn how to calm and soothe yourself quickly.

3. Try out a new boundary.  I know, I know.  “Boundaries” are old news but if you feel the impulse to dismiss this action, it’s probably especially meant for you.  Boundaries protect our energy.  So think of something that leaves you drained - taking calls on your drive home, responding to texts immediately, or running from back-to-back meetings.  Whatever it is, do an experiment, stop doing that thing for two weeks and notice how you feel.  Week one might be uncomfortable, week two might change your life ;)

Nothing too fancy in those suggestions but abundant opportunities to experience something new - feeling better, calmer, more centered.

New action - that’s it - that’s the secret.

So no going on autopilot this January.  No defaulting into “ that’s just the way it is,” no return to old routines that didn’t serve you.

New action.

Cheering you on in this new year,

Maggie