I usually do not spend much time away from work, but over the past few months, I have spent several weeks off due to deaths in my family and vacations. Time away is wonderful for both body and soul, but it can be tough to get back in the groove afterward.
How can you quickly jump start your return to the office? Here are eight practical tips that help me get back on track.
1. Resist the urge to catch-up while you are still off from work.
I was tempted this past weekend to try to get an early start back at work. But instead I chose to enjoy the last few days of rest. By waiting until your work week really begins, you can take advantage of your last few hours of vacation to do important things like grocery shopping, laundry, catching up on sleep, etc. These things need to get done regardless and it’s much easier to do them before you head back to work.
2. Start your day off with God.
You should be starting every day with time alone with God, but you definitely should make this a priority on your first day back. You will be hit with lots of cares and stresses on this day so ask God for the grace to endure and the wisdom to make wise decisions. By the end of the day you will be grateful you did!
3. Eat a good breakfast.
Doctors say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day—and I believe that they are right! Food provides energy for your brain, so don’t expect this crucial organ to perform well if you do not feed it. A healthy breakfast with lots of protein and fresh fruit will kick your brain into an extra gear of performance.
4. Exercise.
Just like food provides energy for your brain, exercise provides energy for your body. As much as I hated to get out the door at 6:50 this morning, I dragged myself to my chiropractor to get an extra boost of energy from an adjustment and stretching workout. An hour and a half later, I can feel a huge difference in my post-travel lethargy.
5. Avoid any client meetings on your first day back.
If at all possible, I try to avoid meeting with any clients on my first day back. This way I have a full day to get my affairs in order, catch up on emails, and get briefed by my team on the status of our projects. This also prevents wasting a client’s time if I am not fully prepared to meet with them.
If you cannot take a whole day due to the nature of your work, at least try to give yourself the morning to catch up or until you have time to do tip #6.
6. Begin your work time with a briefing from your team.
This is crucial as you need to know the status of projects before you go blazing a trail on your first day back. I like to start my day with a conversation with Melanie so she can fill me in on the things I missed and help set direction for the week ahead. I also like to do this before I go through my email, as it makes things go much quicker knowing in advance what has been addressed or still is pending my reply.
7. Go through your email & voicemails.
This can take a while depending on how many messages you get each day, but at least try to sort through your messages on day one. I quickly go through my messages to weed out things that have already been dealt with, and then I flag the messages that need a response.
Afterward, time and priority permitting, I start to reply. Don’t attempt to reply as you review as you can easily get bogged down on something that is not a priority.
8. Prioritize!!!
A lot of work will need to be done on your first day back, but only do what needs to be done. Do not attempt to catch up all in one day. Your body might have slipped out of the habit of putting in 10+-hour work days, so your energy and stamina is probably not at 100%.
Pace yourself and prioritize. I love what Oswald Chambers had to say about this: “The whole point of getting things done is knowing what to leave undone.”
Image courtesy of DepositPhotos.com | epstock
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