The last few years have felt disproportionally hard – so Capsule, with the help of our pals at Shark and Ninja, are here to figure out how to make life easier, without breaking the bank, as well as diving deeper into WHY we do what we do, the struggles we all collectively face and all that’s glorious and good about being a mana wahine!
This is The Time of Your Life, and this month we’re all struggling with heading back to work – but luckily, we have six top tips to get your work mojo back again and banish the back-to-work blues
Capsule x Shark Home
“Aw God, we’re HERE again!?”
Look, no matter how much you love your job – and don’t get me wrong, I love mine – coming back to work after the holidays is an actual slog.
For some reason this year, despite the fact I had a decently-long break and did absolutely f-all over those glorious weeks, I still didn’t bounce into my office, rearing and ready to go for the new work year, like I normally would (also is it just me or as we’re getting older, is it getter THAT much harder?!) .
I’ve written about functional freeze mode before – where I struggled to find motivation in the middle of the year after literally burning out at the thought of how much work I needed to get done – and I knew this wasn’t it. My to-do list was manageable, there was no expectations of huge, business-altering coups or decisions, and I had purposely put aside a week to focus on bigger-picture projects that never get done otherwise.
But I still couldn’t get moving. The struggle was real, the ‘I just don’t gie a shit’ was on fire, and I struggled to make the commute from bed to the office (it takes literally six seconds).
What the hell is going on – and more importantly, how do I fix it?
THE BACK TO WORK BLUES ARE REAL
So a cursory look around the internet, coupled with the fact I was having the exact same conversation with everyone – “Jesus, she’s been a slow start this year, right?!” – made me feel a little better – turns out a lot of us have been struggling to get into 2025 with the appropriate enthusiasm, and look, that’s fine.
If you’ll remember from Austin Powers, when you’ve lost your mojo, you’ve lost your mojo and short of employing an army of Fembots to find it, it’s hard to get it back. Last year was a tough one for a lot of us, and just because you’ve had the pleasure of sunning yourself on a beach for a week or two, it doesn’t take away the stress of cost of living, or the workplace drama, or your worries about your kids.
So, rather than beat ourselves up about it all, here are some simple things that can help you channel your inner Fembot and get this mojo magic back!
HOW TO GET YOUR MOTIVATION BACK
1. Start small: Behavioural science expert Karla Orth says you need to think small for now – “rather than diving headfirst, focus on smaller, manageable tasks and wins, during the first few days [and weeks!] back – they can rebuild momentum without feeling overwhelmed.” She also reckons that re-establishing the routines that have previously worked for you tout suite can help, as well as reviving your workplace connections (yeah all I’m hearing with that one is having a good old office goss about summer scandal, but you do you!).
2. Make your environment as welcoming and as pleasant as possible: This one really excited me because I’m one of those people who loves curated, organised and tidy office environment – I can’t work in chaos and I like my desk arranged just so (I promise I actually am fun at parties!). So to combat the lethargy I decided an office clean and re-organise was just the ticket, with a few new additions, including my new favourite thing in the whole world (apologies to my fiancé), my Shark FlexBreeze fan because if there’s anything I hate more that mess, it’s being too hot. The beauty of this bad boy is that it pops off to become a table-top fan if I need something shorter and closer AND it is also cordless, so I can move it around the whole office without worrying about power points (and it comes outside with me too when I want a little sun break on the deck). I also cleaned everything within an inch of its life, found a fun new vase hidden in the back of the cupboard, and filled it with fresh flowers from the dairy. Vibes, restored.
Ah, there she is, my little baby. She even has a little misting attachment for when it’s suuuper hot
3. Remind yourself of your goals: I have to laugh a bit at this one because someone recently asked me during a panel discussion about what motivates me – everyone else on the panel replied with ‘I just remember my Why!’ and ‘making the world a better place!’ and all those lovely things you’re supposed to say. Me? I replied, ‘vengeance’. Probably not what the crowd was after but there’s no denying that proving people wrong is a massive motivator for me (and trust me, there were a lot of people with a lot to say when we launched Capsule!). So, vengeance, combined with remembering all of the big things we want to achieve this year, did help to get the creative juices flowing (but also good on you if you’re a nicer person than me and have actual positive things that motivate you).
4. Visualisation: Stay with me, I know we’ve gone into the woo woo here but it really does work. Basically, set yourself up for success the best way you know how – is that laying out clothes the night before? Having a good breakfast ready to go? A new notebook or gadget? Picture the positives of the perfect morning, and surely the universe will follow suit.
5. Future you will thank past you: This one is a proactive one to stop this from happening again, and I’ve found it’s been super-helpful in the past in allowing your brain the break it truly needs over the break, with the idea that it’ll help out future you when you do get back to your desk. Before I head out for any holiday I will make myself a to-do list for when I return – that way I know I won’t miss anything or forget anything when I get back, and I don’t have to keep anything in my brain that’s not strictly related to the sun smart principle and what book I’m taking to the beach. Brain gets a break, and future me is prepared – it helps!
6. Remind yourself to be kind to… yourself: Radical idea, right? We can’t all be jazzy all the time, and sometimes your brain and your body just needs a more chill entry back into real life – so instead of fighting it tooth and nail, I’ve accepted that hey, things might take a bit longer for the next few weeks. The batteries WILL recharge, but it’s just taking a minute. Fine. I’ll pour myself that glass of wine then!