The Post-Break Letdown: When Motivation Ghosts You After Vacation

There’s a moment after every holiday break when reality hits like a poorly timed client email. You open your inbox, take one look at your calendar, and immediately wish you could un-open both.

You had plans for this “fresh start.” You were going to return energized, focused, maybe even motivated.

Instead, you’re tired, vaguely disoriented, and pretending you remember how to lawyer.

Welcome to the post-break emotional hangover.

Reentry Fatigue Is Real

One minute you’re on your couch watching movies in sweatpants, the next you’re expected to produce polished, strategic work product, as if your brain didn’t just spend ten days in airplane mode.

Reentry fatigue is the mental equivalent of jet lag. You’re back, technically, but your mind hasn’t caught up. Lawyers tend to interpret this as personal failure:

“I should be able to bounce back.”
“I shouldn’t be this tired.”
“Everyone else seems fine.”

But here’s the thing: most people aren’t fine. They’re just better at pretending.

Your brain is adjusting to a sudden shift from rest (or the closest thing to rest you allow yourself) back into constant output. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s biology.

The Emotional Hangover You Didn’t See Coming

Returning to work doesn’t just bring tasks—it brings feelings you didn’t have time to process during the holidays.

Maybe grief resurfaced.
Maybe family time was heavier than expected.
Maybe you didn’t get the rest you were desperate for.
Maybe the break gave you too much space to notice how burnt out you really are.

When you combine emotional residue with professional pressure, motivation doesn’t just fade—it ghosts you entirely.

Stop Expecting Yourself to “Snap Back”

Lawyers are trained to work through discomfort. Push through fatigue. Perform no matter what.
But reentry isn’t something you can push through. It’s something you have to move through. Slowly, intentionally, and with more compassion than you’re used to offering yourself.

You don’t have to be 100 percent on the first day back.
Or the third.
Or the tenth.

Sustainable work doesn’t begin with motivation. It begins with pacing.

You Can Build Systems That Support You

As a former attorney turned therapist for attorneys, I understand how difficult it is to ease back in instead of powering through. But this is where therapy helps.

Therapy isn’t about forcing productivity. It’s about helping you create systems that keep you grounded, even when your motivation is nowhere to be found.

You don’t have to white-knuckle yourself through another year. You can work in a way that protects your well-being, not erodes it.

If the reentry process already feels like too much, you don’t have to figure out the next steps alone.

Schedule a consultation to create sustainable systems for the new year. Schedule Consultation