While going on vacation is exciting, I think we can all agree that returning to work after a vacation is usually stressful.
There’s a lot of mail, a ton of emails to go through and dozens of other things you need to get to that have been piling up while you were gone. It can almost seem like a punishment for ignoring your responsibilities.
Hopefully you will be relaxed and ready to tackle the many tasks that have been waiting for you upon your return. However, just in case you get overwhelmed, here are some tips to help you ease back into reality:
- Notify people you regularly interact with that you will be unavailable and away from the office. If people know you’ll be gone, they (hopefully) won’t try to contact you which will significantly reduce the amount of voicemails and emails.
- Clear the inbox on your desk and your email inbox so that the new items you must attend to when you return will be obvious.
- Wrap up all of your “To Do’s.” This may be difficult depending on the type of job you have, but do the best you can.
- Make sure you don’t have any meetings or appointments the first day (or two) when you return to the office. You will definitely appreciate the time to get caught up.
- Arrive an hour early to work. Use this time to check your schedule, messages, mail and e-mail before co-workers get in and start asking about your trip and giving you more things to do.
- Take an extra day before heading back to work to regroup and catch-up on your life. Use the extra day to get things done at home so that you can focus on work when you return to the office.
Okay, now go and relax and know that when you get back from your vacation, you’ll have everything under control. Have a great trip!