The Modern Leader
Returning to work after time off can be overwhelming. Where do you begin? Here's how I ease back into work as stress-free as possible.
Have you ever come back from a vacation, refreshed and ready to go, when you feel this is the scene you're walking into?
Your inbox is overflowing, you have more Slack messages than you can possibly read, and you have no idea if there were any critical project updates. But it doesn't have to be this way! While you can't control the fires that started while you were away, you can set yourself up for a smooth transition back to work.
Working backwards
It all begins with what you do before you head out of office.
First, reserve time in the morning on your first day back to work to just catch up. Avoid scheduling meetings for the first 2-3 hours of the day. Use this time to catch up on project updates, Slack messages, and emails.
Second, think to yourself: "Would future me want this many meetings on my calendar the week I return from a vacation?" Where possible, keep your meetings for the week to a reasonable level. It's easy to say "this is a problem for my future self" but when your future self becomes your present-day self, you'll be disappointed with your past self. Keep your meetings measured between the week you leave and the week you return, and delegate anything else you can.
Put together your out of office plan. This plan should include any projects in flight, what's expected for them (including who is working on them and who is the main point of contact while you're out) as well as any specific to-do items for colleagues while you're away.
You can leverage this OOO plan to check in with the folks mentioned in the document to see what got done and what didn't. It's an easy baseline for return. If things you expected to get done did not get done, don't panic! You don't know yet why a project may have taken longer or didn't get touched at all. Go in with a sense of curiosity. Don't ruin your post-vacation bliss with these "whys" until you have answers.
Give yourself grace. Feelings of overwhelm can be all-consuming upon return from a vacation, but nobody's expecting you to bounce back in on day 1. (Or at least they shouldn't be expecting that!) Don't try to tackle everything at once. Make yourself a 1-2-3 list:
- 1 task to focus on for the week (it's a great week if this gets done)
- 2 tasks to fall back on should you either need more work or a brain break from your primary task
- 3 tasks that are quick and simple 5-10 minute wins: cleaning up your inbox, responding to someone, reading through a document
Remember: The goal is to integrate back into your professional life without undoing the benefits of your time off. Your team survived just fine while you were out. You don't need to go from 0-100 on your first day back.