The summer holiday is over, the desks are full again. Calendars are packed again and, on paper, everyone's simply back at work.

There's even a term for it: post-vacation blues. You're back, but your system is still running on half power - thinking more slowly, getting distracted more easily, less sharp than usual. Nothing serious, more a kind of jet lag without the flight, and something organisational psychologists widely recognise in the step from holiday back to work.

According to Ashwin Taneja, body language expert and founder of Body Signals Academy, that dip isn't just something someone feels, it's also something you can see. “The body always shows tension and discomfort, even when the cause is nothing more than having to get used to a new situation again,” he says. “In someone who feels at ease, you see that reflected in an open, relaxed posture. The moment tension or uncertainty comes into play, that shifts towards signals of discomfort.”

For one employee, that's a minor thing. For an organisation that needs to be back at full strength shortly after summer, it adds up: dozens of conversations that get going just a little more slowly, a first team meeting with less energy than expected, decisions that take longer because people are contributing less actively than usual. A manager who doesn't know what those first weeks look like risks either over-correcting a team that would naturally get back up to speed on its own - or, the other way round, missing a signal that genuinely does need attention.

How Long This Phase Usually Lasts

For most people, the dip fades on its own within a few days to about a week. “The body gets used to a new rhythm, much the same way it gets used to the rhythm of a holiday,” says Taneja. “Some people adjust faster than others, and that says nothing about motivation on its own.”

For some people it takes a little longer, especially when the calendar is already packed from day one back. In that case the body gets no room to settle in gradually, and signals of discomfort stay visible for longer than they would with a calmer build-up.

The Difference Between Comfort and Discomfort in Behaviour

The distinction between signals of comfort and discomfort is one of the most widely used building blocks within the study of body language. Comfortable behaviour, for example, shows up as:

  • an open posture, without arms or objects used as a barrier
  • the head tilted slightly
  • relaxed shoulders and jaw
  • calm, fluid movements

Discomfort and rising tension show up as the opposite:

  • a posture that's slightly hunched, shoulders forward
  • arms crossed, or an object (bag, laptop, cup) placed between you and the other person
  • self-soothing behaviour: rubbing the back of the neck, playing with a pen or ring, pressing the lips together

“These aren't unusual signals at all,” says Taneja. “You see the same pattern with any kind of uncertainty or tension. After summer, the trigger is usually simply that someone still has to get used to the rhythm of work.”

In practice, you see this play out in the first team meeting after summer: someone who normally contributes actively sits noticeably quieter for the first few days, arms held a little closer to the body, glancing at the screen or their notes more often than at the group. Nothing to worry about, but worth consciously registering.

Why This Often Gets Misread

Taneja points out that discomfort signals are regularly misread in practice: “People are quick to interpret a closed posture or silence as a lack of interest. But the signal says something about tension or uncertainty in that moment, not about motivation for the work itself.”

That distinction matters for managers. A conversation that starts from the assumption that someone is less engaged, while actually a temporary adjustment phase is at play, can backfire: someone who's already showing some discomfort and then gets called out on their attitude or effort tends to withdraw further rather than re-engage. At team level, that effect can repeat across several employees at once, right at the moment an organisation most wants to be back at full strength.

How to Handle This as a Manager

Based on this, Taneja offers a few concrete points of attention:

  • Compare against someone's normal behaviour. You can only recognise a deviation once you know how someone typically behaves. Someone who's naturally reserved isn't showing a "discomfort signal" by sitting that way again.
  • Choose a light check-in, not an evaluation. “How's it going, are you settling back into the work rhythm okay? I'm finding it a bit of a struggle myself, to be honest.” invites a different kind of answer than “I notice you seem a bit closed off.”
  • Watch the direction, not a single moment. Does someone shift back towards a more open, relaxed posture after a few days? Then that fits a normal return dip. Do the discomfort signals persist for longer? Then a conversation may be worth having, to understand what's going on.
  • Build the conversation up gently. Not immediately piling someone up with decisions, back-to-back meetings or new information gives them room to settle back in.
  • Just name it. Simply saying out loud that the first week back after a holiday usually runs a bit slower normalises the dip - for your team, and just as much for yourself.

A Period Worth Observing

Anyone who knows the difference between signals of comfort and discomfort can more easily tell the difference between a temporary adjustment phase and a signal that calls for a conversation.

Read also: After Summer, You Don't Hear the Workload - You See It and After the Summer Holiday, Colleagues Sound Motivated Again - But Not Everyone Shows It.