How to have a good start after vacation?
You didn’t hear from me in September, because I had a very good and relaxing 3-week vacation. And since everything is a little different this year, I forgot to take measures for coming back the first day at work.
That just reminded me, why I normally take them. Back to work for some time now- and not all through all the catching up. I simply don’t like not being on top of things and playing catch up.
Getting back to work from a 3-week vacation at least means Emails in the high hundreds, granted with a lot of junk in between, co-workers having piled up questions and open decisions and catch up with the project team as well as a few new topics turned up. I am sure you all know that!
The past years I managed to cope with this situation quite well, because I prepare beforehand for the first day of work. I am not really sure, why I didn’t do it this year, but maybe I needed to learn my lesson again.
So, what I normally do to avoid the stress of the first day back at work? Well I have one small trick I use. My Out-of-office messages runs at least half a day, better a day longer than I am actually not there. This gives me time to:
- Read my Emails
- Talk to the project lead
- Get updated
Also, one other important thing is to try and keep in mind to not feel overwhelmed by the number of things to do. I just try and take everything in small steps. This is also something that is helping now. For this it also helps to keep in mind that all of us coming back from vacation are in the same situation, so they will probably understand.
So, what are my learnings from this year:
- Definitely go back to my little trick
- Keep in mind- we are all in the same boat
- Take it step by step
What are your little tricks getting back after vacation?
Photocredit: Verena Küppers Photography
