How To Get Back To Work After A Long Holiday

Remember when you were in school and holidays were the best part of the year? They came around the same time of the year, no questions asked. The duration of the holidays was for around the same time and you knew school was eventually going to start. Growing up, you went through life thinking all your days would be as scheduled and structured as school was. College gets over and work life starts, kicking you in all the wrong places. However, if you know how to schedule your work life just as well as you schedule your holidays, then you can have the cake and eat it too! Here is how you can have the best of both the worlds!

1. Do not take up all the work at the same time 

Oftentimes, when you do not schedule enough work for the time you are not around, a lot of it is left piled up for when you return. When you take up so many things at the same time, you do not want to do the rest and this makes you feel suffocated, more than anything else. Also, make sure you schedule the important tasks for the second half of the day rather than the first, so you do not go crazy, cry and then run away, ruining your holiday and your work mood all at once!

2. Clean out your inbox 

When I go away for even just a weekend, I usually return to over 200 unread messages in my inbox and every time that happens, it pisses me off to no end. To avoid getting annoyed like I do, make sure you do not, at any cost, check your mail on leave. Leave them for the day you are back, so you have a clear head and not a holiday brain! Prioritize and sort out according to importance, so you get the most necessary things out of the way first!

3. Schedule your time 

When you are on holiday, you always have time for yourself. The day you get back to work after a break is the hardest, with you being forced to get back to your routine. When this happens, make sure you schedule time for yourself and take breaks when you need them! Make sure to plan contingency time in your schedule to act as a buffer for the unexpected first week back as well!

4. Own the post vacation blues 

The day you get back home after your holiday is the day your vacation is officially over. That is when you start owning and embracing this period, letting your mind accept that life is going to be mundane, dull and routine all over again. I have realised getting back to work is all the more easier when you know for a fact that you took the break you needed and now you have to get back to responsibilities again. So own the blues and you will definitely come out on the better side!

5. Drink coffee

I just got back from a ten day holiday to the United States and with my body being my body, jet lag came as an inevitable side effect. My dad, when I came back, gave me the official go ahead to have as many cups of coffee as I wanted to, to get through the day and that is when I realised there was nothing better on a bad day than multiple cups of strong, really good coffee, right?

Coming back to work from a weekend is hard, but coming back from a holiday is all the more harder. If you have any other coping mechanisms on how to deal with post holiday stress, comment and let us know!