Tips For Getting Back to Work After A Holiday

Dear Alice,

Today I will delight you with some tricks I have learned over the years concerning getting back to work after a holiday. We all love holidays and vacations, and I think you know what I mean. And as a natural event after any period of time away from the office, we have to adjust to the office activity and to the working hours, so I did come with some tricks concerning this event, that could also help you when getting back to work after a holiday.

Here are some of them:

  • Clean up your desk.
    • This is an activity that will help you in better organizing your work space and will also contribute in you remembering a lot of details concerning your work activities. In some cases, it can be that your workstation was even cleaned up or updated so cleaning it is necessary. Still do not spend too much time on this activity.
  • Check your calendar for any appointments.
    • This is important for recalling your daily work activities and it also helps you to not miss any important scheduled meetings.
  • Read your emails depending on subject or sender.
    • After holidays, the chances that your mailbox is full are quite high. It is quite normal I would say. Still do not panic and try to read the emails depending on the subject or sender. In this way you will optimize the time spent on connecting all the new received information concerning the same topic.
  • Make a prioritized list with your tasks (use a Kanban board if possible for instance).
    • I try to do this every day at my office and I must say that I truly think that this activity really pays off a lot. After a holiday or a vacation this activity is even more important, since I concentrate my energy on the most significant tasks. Usually after a holiday or vacation my energy levels are quite high, so I find it useful to complete those tasks with higher priority. It brings me a higher level of satisfaction this way.
  • Concentrate on executing one task at a time.
    • I must say that this is one of my golden rules in the office. Context switching and multi tasking could sound like useful activities, but in reality (after reflecting a bit or even practicing them), you will see that they are only slowing you down. And I do like to use my time in an efficient way. So as a piece of advice: do one task at a time. It will save you a lot of precious time and it will definitely increase your productivity! As for me: this definitely motivates me a lot.
  • Get rid of any distractions.
    • This will help you to concentrate on your tasks in an efficient manner. So turn off your phone, and log out of any social networking engines. You will definitely save a lot of time this way.
  • Take time for yourself.
    • Getting back to work after a vacation is a normal activity. It is part of life after all. Still getting back to the office does not mean that you should forget about yourself and your well-being. So do organize some recreational activities with your friends and/or family: go for lunch or dinner, organize some fun events in the evenings, meet your friends for coffee, so basically everything that makes you happy.
  • Leave the office on time.
    • This is always a good rule, and in particular after a holiday. Remember: tomorrow is another day.
  • Be patient and be kind with yourself.
    • Slowly you will return to your daily work routine, so be kind with yourself and allow yourself to make mistakes. Learn from them and be patient: change and adjustment always take time.

What about you: what tricks do you use when getting back to work after a holiday?
Sincerely yours,
madalina

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