How to Get Back to Work After Vacation

 

Returning to work after a vacation can be tough.  In fact, the last days of your time off can often be ruined by "vacation dread", that feeling that you have to return to work and you have so much waiting for you.  Having a plan for how to tackle that work can help ease the dread and let you enjoy the last days of your time off.

Take a Buffer Day 

Whenever you travel for vacation it’s always good to build in a buffer day or two before returning to work.  You never want to make it home the night before and head right back to work the next day.  Give yourself at least one day to chill at home, watching Netflix and eating carry-out. Go to bed on time and get a full night's rest.  Vacations are a blast but can also be taxing.  Give your body a moment to get back into the routine. 

Clean Up Your Inbox 

Grab a cup of coffee and sit down in a quiet place to go through your inbox. Don’t schedule big meetings your first day back.  Instead, schedule time to go through everything you missed while you were out.  The triple or quadruple-digit number of unread messages will look daunting, but it doesn’t have to be.  We’ve found that most email messages can be deleted without fear.  If you directed people to other resources during your absence, assume they went to those resources.  If you were CC’d on a thread of messages, only keep and read through the latest message and delete the rest. If you’re the only person that can solve a problem, flag that message for follow-up. 

Prioritize Your Work 

You can’t get everything done at once.  Even if you try to get everything done at once, you’ll find that the quality of your output will suffer dramatically.   Don’t try to be a superhero.  After you’ve cleaned up your inbox, go back and prioritize the most important things that need to get done. Remember Pareto's law or the 80/20 rule.  80% of your output comes from 20% of your actions. For every 10 emails left after cleaning up your inbox, identify the 2 that give you the best return on your time investment and delete the rest. Flag those and then get them OUT of your inbox and add them to a follow-up folder.  Nothing is worse than staring at a huge list of emails that need your intention.  You’ll have constant stress every time you look at your inbox. 

Create a Checklist 

Nothing feels better than checking a task off your to-do list.  You have already created a pseudo-to-do list by flagging and adding the emails/tasks that need attention to a follow-up folder.  Remember, that you can’t do it all at once.  Go through this list each morning of the first week back and create a daily checklist....on paper.  We’ve found that having your list in front of you and both physically writing it out and striking it out, will help you focus on the task at hand and it feels great drawing a physical line through that tasks.  By creating a daily list, you’ll help yourself ensure you complete them by the end of the day.  Work expands or contracts to fit the time allowed, so the daily list will help ensure you stay on track. 

Reflect 

Now that you’ve completed all your backlog go back and reflect on how it went.  What work did you have to do that should have been handled automatically while you were gone?  What lessons have you learned to help you plan before you go on vacation?  Planning ahead can help you have less work to do when you get back.