Published on: 21 August 2023 The summer months are a time in which colleagues take turns in taking two or more weeks off. Have you recently been on holiday? Returning from vacation can always take some getting used to. Here are some tips that can make your return to work easier.
1. PREPARE YOUR MORNING
That alarm clock will be painful enough. Lay out your outfit in the evening and prepare your lunch ahead of time. Optionally, set up the breakfast table in advance. This way, you'll avoid stress even before you get to work. If you work from home, tidy up your kitchen table or workspace the night before. If you commute to work in the morning, leave on time; you never know if there will be traffic.
2. CLEAN UP!
If there's still clutter on your desk, clear it away first. Don't leave mail and other papers lying on the corner of your table; review and sort them immediately. Before diving back in, take a look at your calendar. What's scheduled for the upcoming weeks? This way, you'll avoid missing deadlines in your first week.
3. TAKE TIME FOR YOUR COLLEAGUES
Your colleagues haven't been idle while you were on the beach. Ask them what's been happening at the office in the meantime. Is there any news about that particular project? Did they have good weather too? If they weren't at the office either, you can ask them what they did in their free time. Take the time to catch up with everyone; it will do you good.
4. CREATE AN EFFICIENT TO-DO LIST
Start your day organized by making a to-do list. Grab a piece of paper or a digital note and write down all your tasks. Organize them by priority or include deadlines. Then decide which tasks you'll tackle today and which ones can wait until later in the week. Don't take on too much right away; it takes a while to get back into the swing of things. So, start with the smaller tasks.
5. TACKLE THAT DREADFUL FULL INBOX SMARTLY
Your first day back at work is not the ideal time to clean up your entire inbox. It's likely overflowing. To manage it, create three labels, which you can color-code. For example, use red for 'needs to be answered today,' blue for 'needs to be answered this week,' and green for 'likely can be deleted.'
Label your emails based on the subject alone. Once you've done that, start with the 'red emails'; leave the rest aside until you're caught up. If an email is truly urgent, the sender will resend it.
6. DON'T WORK THROUGH EMAILS CHRONOLOGICALLY
You might logically start from the bottom, answering emails that have been waiting the longest for a response. Mistake! Imagine you answer a question, and ten emails later, you realize that your colleague (who wasn't on vacation) sent an answer last week.
Avoid unnecessary "My apologies, I just noticed that my colleague already responded to your question" emails and start from the top of your inbox. You might even be able to delete a bunch of old emails that have been resolved in the meantime. Plus, some might have noted your out-of-office dates. Their email will be at the top of your inbox.
7. CHOOSE QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
Don't get overwhelmed by your emails. Trying to respond as quickly as possible to everyone can backfire. If you read too quickly and miss a specific question, you might expect another email asking the same question. Another email added to your pile of unread messages that could have been avoided. Therefore, take enough time to read a message completely. You won't be able to answer them all in one day, but you also don't need to anticipate unnecessary follow-ups.
If you still want to let everyone know that you're working on it, reply to all of them with the same standard sentence first: 'I will read my emails today. If you need a response before 5 PM, please email me now, and I'll let you know if it's possible.'
8. POSTPONE NON-URGENT MEETINGS
There you are with your long to-do list and your pile of urgent emails. It's only logical that you'd prefer to spend your time on those rather than in an hour-long brainstorming session. So, try to postpone non-urgent meetings until later in the week.
9. SCHEDULE MEETINGS WITH YOUR TO-DO LIST
Don't schedule anything for your first day back, or at least not in the morning. Block that time in your calendar as well. If colleagues see that your calendar is empty, they'll be more than happy to fill it up. So, just schedule a meeting with your to-do list. Use your out-of-office response as a defense mechanism. Keep it active for a while so senders know you've just returned.
10. GIVE YOURSELF SOME BREATHING SPACE
If you think you can work for eight hours straight after two weeks of lounging around, you don't know yourself. Don't waste all your energy on the first day and take short breaks: get some coffee, catch up on what you did during the vacation. Use lunchtime today to eat away from your desk. The more of that accumulated vacation energy you save today, the smoother the rest of the week will go. Also, don't work too late in the evening; exhausting yourself on the first day is pointless.
The first day might be a bit chaotic, and you might feel nostalgic for your vacation, but before you know it, you'll be back in your familiar routine. Are you actively looking for a new job? You can find our job vacancies here.