Is Anyone Else Crying In Their Car Today?

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First day back to work as normal, I worked last week but it was shorter hours and everyone was still in a good mood from Christmas. Today I got up and didn't want to go back to work and leave my family. I don't know if I've got January Blues or if this is my sign that I need a new job but I cried the whole drive to work, must have looked like a mad woman to the next to me when I was sat in traffic. Anyone else having a depressed morning? Any tips to get me through the day without going home with a headache to go join my kids to watch rainy day films?

It's not awful to acknowledge that you welcome getting back to your normal routine.

I am in a similar position. I have at least 4 years left of work. My job isn't that bad, but lots of changes and lots of uncertainty mean that it's difficult to actually do anything.

Thank you, I actually think I prob should have done a day at work just to break it up a bit.

What!!!

Yanbu

I started back today and apparently didn’t get the memo that a lot of people took today off. My calendar is almost fully open. Even though I’m working it’s going to be super quiet today and tomorrow should be similar since it will be most people’s first day back.

I was so bored after Christmas. Was itching to get back to work. I'll regret it after a few days I know 😂

Also feeling relieved to go back to work today. I've been in sole charge of our 3-year old for the past week and although parts of it are fun, I mostly find it to be hard work, especially for an entire week. We're with family, although my mother is getting old and can no longer help out so much. Today feels like the first time in ages where I get to think about something other than DD.

YANBU lm back tomorrow 😭

I took today off and worked 28/29th instead, so glad I did. Wish I had all this week off actually but alas, back tomorrow. Soon be back into the swing of things

I worked the whole of Christmas and New Year. I have to but would be bored shitless if didn't, but I'm really not a staying on the sofa watching films person and like to be busy... I'll relax when I get annual leave in spring... I would feel it was an absolute waste to take it this time of year when the weather is dire.. I'm simply not an indoors person. (yes I appreciate it can be awful in spring but at least it's lighter then!)
I feel you are definitely in the wrong job. I didn't mind going in when others were off... I get bad SAD and my job is a good distraction. Also January is close to February.. ie first signs of spring and can start to see the light return..
so it's more of a positive to me
Find a job that doesn't depress you like this does!

Yes this! I have always preferred cooler weather and can't bear the suffocating heat of hot countries, but imo the weather is definitely to blame this year. Weeks and weeks of unrelenting rain and cold wind. Then endless viruses that are running riot through the population as there's no cold weather to kill them off. I have never had so many viruses this winter I think I'm over one, then another arrives. Currently coughing and sneezing everywhere and driving everyone mad!

Today, I'm actually fine, but I absolutely do understand how you feel, and I was like this almost every year in my previous job. A nicer job has made a massive difference.

I don't have any kids, so I don't know, but I would have thought it might be even harder to go back if you've been enjoying being with them all day and doing nice fun things with them. Obviously I know lots of parents will have had more than enough of that by now and will be looking forward to the start of school, which is also completely understandable! But I know a good few mums who find it hard being away from the kids again after a long break. My own mum always hated it when we went back to school; she just used to like having us pottering around.

Don't think you're alone in this.

I once went back to work in January when morale was low anyway and nobody spoke a word until late afternoon. Couple of dozen of us, all crouched over our desks.

I wasn't personally weeping before I got to work but I wouldn't have been surprised if some people had been.

I started a new job in December and actually Ed a big excited to get to work today

I'm not crying, but I don't like working and would happily quit it forever if I had the money to.

I have no ability to empathise at all with people who would be bored if they were not working. There are more things I want to do than I would have time to do, even if I had no job. I don't understand people who don't know what to do with themselves if work does not tell them how to fill their time.

Honestly, please take comfort in a large number of people feeling like this. I live in the SW and it's been wall to wall grey skies (first bit of blue today), horizontal rain and gale force winds. It feels like hardly 6 hours of daylight at the moment. Most people have eaten too much and spent too much and now the warm blanket that is the festive season has been pulled off and I'm feeling cold, snotty and fat! There is a pressure to jump into January with renewed hope, eat heathily, exercise and set goals...I just want to pull the blanket back and wake up in May.

Have a cry and know this will pass, if it doesn't then get a new job, life is too short!

Working from home doesn't mean you're unaffected by company culture. You might not experience things like nasty office gossip when working from home, but that's not the only thing that makes a workplace toxic. If you work at the kind of place where people are demanding, micro-managing, rude, unhelpful, making you keep to unrealistic deadlines, hyper-critical etc, you still experience all of that from them at home (unfortunately).

Part of me understands. There's nothing that can beat the feeling of cosy family times at home. I feel like this too but in all honesty after the Christmas season ends I can't wait to get back to work with my usual family routines in plac with all the Chritmas festivities over. The anticipation of what a new year holds with longer hours of daylight around the corner keeps me going 😊

When I read the title I thought you were going to say you were stuck in one of these horrible floods.

I Like my job and what I do and work with lovely people and I’m going away next week! However I did feel quite a strong pang of sadness and anxiety yesterday even when trying to be rational about my situation which is pretty decent! It’s just a bit of a comedown, and going back to the reality of real life, let’s face it this weather doesn’t help either! I do think being back at work is never so bad and it’s good to get back into the routine but I can’t help have those strong pangs of sadness and anxiety as the festive period closes and day to day reality beckons!

We did test positive and couldn't go back. Which means we're all still at home but poorly. I'd rather be at work.

I get it though. I like my job but after every holiday I don't want to drop DD off at nursery or see DH go off to work, or open my laptop. I just remember what I'm doing it for. I'm doing it to have those lovely times. To give DD those memories and her safety and security and future.

If you get a critical email from someone while wfh I think it's harder to deal with than seeing people in real life where they are likely to be less harsh and the general chit chat and hellos means the email will be forgotten about.
I definitely wouldn't want my first day back to be wfh though. I'd want to get back to the usual routine for at least one day.

More so I'd say. You haven't got a colleague to just pop into their office to talk about it all.

I've had a lot of time off, but I also feel really anxious about going back. I think it makes it worse in many ways.