There's no getting away from it - the festive season is well and truly over, and today people up and down the UK are heading back to work after a well-deserved break. While for lots of people work carried on as normal over Christmas and the New Year, for many others the past two weeks have been a haze of mince pies, lounging on the sofa, and meals big enough to feed a small army. 

But today it's back to the grind, and it would be understandable to find yourself struggling a bit this morning. Whether it's an email inbox with unread messages in the four figures, a mountain of paperwork big enough to be seen from space, or just remembering your computer password, the first full week of January can be a rude awakening. If you're struggling, rest assured you're not alone, with people on Reddit sharing their tips for getting back into the routine after the break.

Writing on the social media platform's CasualUK forum, one user said: "Back to work tomorrow after Christmas break. How do you motivate yourself for the coming year?" They added: "Any tips? Do you create a plan/goals, go with the flow, resolutions? I’m feeling less anxious than normal but need some motivation to grab things."

One user wrote: "Small easy goals stacked consistently. No point with thinking 'this is the year everything changes'. It’s b******* and doesn’t work.

"My goals for January are easy: bed by 10pm, one bit of exercise a day, one beer a night, read 10 pages of my book, eat more vegetables, eat fewer snacks. Easy. After a month I’ll adjust and do a bit more. It’s January, it’s cold, no point trying to change too much."

Another said: "Just take each day at a time. Once you're back in the 'routine' it gets slightly easier. Just dread Monday, worry about the rest of the week later, have something nice for dinner Monday evening. I'm back tomorrow after two and a half weeks of hedonistic living, trying to stay positive..."

Someone else wrote: "Taking those days between Christmas and New Year plus the Friday looked great on paper, going back in with an entire week ahead is going to be purgatory. Even did the lottery this weekend in an attempt to stave off the inevitable, I never do that.

"I'm just going to book some holidays, avoid meetings, take long lunch breaks and nip off early whenever possible. Same as last year."

A different user said: "My mindset is to take opportunities as they arise and don't take work too seriously. No point going in at 120 per cent and exhausting yourself in the first week. Only 10 weeks till my next holiday and by then the rubbish weather will be mostly behind us helps too."

Someone else had a particualrly pragmatic approach. They said: "I write down some mini goals and a couple of major goals for the year. They are your typical eat less, work out more, read more, become an overnight billionaire. Then I have a laugh at myself knowing that I will likely only do 25 per cent of them.

"When I get to work, I will take the entire day to 'catch up', AKA deleting email and setting up my calendar and leave everyone alone. I then trick my brain into thinking the other 300 work days this year will be just as easy. By mid-January I will be a mess."

Others were even more realistic. One said: "I intend to do the absolute minimum for at least 12 months." And another wrote: "I plan on having a lazy first week back. This might turn into a month. Or two."