Whether it’s from a holiday break, a planned vacation, or a long weekend, a little hiatus from work is good for the soul. The danger of putting work aside is how to proceed when you’re back in action. Those “circle back in January” tasks pile up, and it can be overwhelming deciding how to handle your workload after a break.
Don’t give into the dread of returning to work or dive back in headfirst and risk drowning. Taking a measured, thoughtful approach to your first few days back is crucial for getting back into a rhythm. Try to find the right mindset before your glorious return.
Write down goals
Even during the slowest times of the year, the world keeps moving. You’ll always have some sort of duties piling up, which can make it hard to relax. Don’t let the fear of catching up on work affect your mindset during the break. Instead, acknowledge there will be tasks that need to be accomplished and that you can come up with a plan of attack when you get back.
Forbes’ Expert Council recommends writing out your weekly goals and then prioritizing the most important tasks on your to-do list. Not every task requires immediate attention, and reminding yourself what the priority goals are will keep you from getting bogged down. Any task can feel more doable by breaking it into smaller, achievable steps, and that’s much easier to do if you take some prep time before diving into your workload.
“Write the most important things down, and cross them off as you get them finished. Stick with one goal until it’s finished — multitasking may seem more productive but, in fact, the reverse is true.” –Joanna Zambas, CareerAddict
Intelligently reconnect
Sometimes, your break will be office-wide. Other times, you might be returning from a planned vacation. In either case, you’ll need to catch up with your team to process what needs to be done and what you may have missed. But if you don’t approach this in the right way, you can get bogged down with unproductive meetings or spend too much time reminiscing over what you did during your time away.
To be courteous of your and others’ time, you want to account for these catch-up conversations during your planning session. CareerAddict’s Joanna Zambras says that you can catch up with coworkers during scheduled breaks to be conscious of time while saving the most important work-related catching up in assigned times and in meetings. This ensures that you aren’t leaving your coworkers hanging for too long nor are you spending too much time talking about your break.
Keep the first morning clear
You may think the best way to get back into a groove is to hit the ground running, tackling the most difficult tasks and touching base with everyone on your team immediately. While there are some benefits to this approach, it can be harmful in the long term. Eventually, you’ll need to go through your inbox and consider how to tackle lower-priority tasks, which will keep piling up, and it’s easy to burn out quickly if you don’t get readjusted.
To avoid this, experts recommend keeping at least the first half of your first day back clear and avoiding scheduling meetings until later. FlexJobs’ Beth Braccio Hering says to think of this time as a meeting with yourself. You’ll be able to plan your approach (as mentioned above) and sort through tasks before even more pile up.
“If possible, block off that time in your calendar so that your team knows you’re busy and use that to deep dive through your inbox and to-do list. Respond to the most urgent things first, and then come up with a game plan for tackling the rest of it throughout the day or week.” -Diana Goodwin, MarketBox
Give yourself time
You wouldn’t be the first to return from work after a break and wish you were still on vacation. It’s a universal challenge we all go through. You may be physically back at work, but that doesn’t mean your mind is fully returned. Instead of feeling guilty or trying to power through, acknowledge that it’s okay to ease your way back in by taking breaks and adopting a gradual growth mindset.
Forbes’ Jack Kelly says to establish tangible and achievable goals for your first week back. This can help you get back into a working mindset while still staying productive. TK Trailer Parts’ Tyler Bray says to not neglect your normal self-care routine in an effort to focus on all-encompassing work. Take time to step away from your desk, hydrate, and do whatever else you need to do to take care of yourself.
Wrap up
After spending time in paradise, or simply enjoying a well-needed break at home, it can be foreboding knowing you need to return to the daily grind. If you dive straight in, you may regret it. Instead, take time to ease yourself back in by taking a thoughtful approach and giving yourself time to readjust. If handled correctly, you’ll get back into your routine without overwhelming yourself.
Before You Go
View Current Job Openings
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
Follow NexGoal on X
“Like” NexGoal on Facebook
Connect with NexGoal on LinkedIn
