6 Things Productivity Experts Do When They Come Back To Work After Vacation
Overwhelmed and stressed about returning to a mess after taking a vacation? Read these tips.
Vacations are the ultimate reset button. A few days filled with sun, friends, and rest can banish the stress of urgent requests, crabby colleagues, and unreasonable deadlines. But nothing kills that post-vacation high faster than opening your laptop to a mountain of work.
The transition back to the grind doesn’t have to be a shock to the system. To keep your restorative mood intact and your stress levels low, you need a strategy for your return.
We asked productivity experts to share their top tips for sliding back into work without the panic. Here is how the pros handle the post-vacation transition.
### 1. Set Expectations Before You Leave
One of the biggest sources of post-vacation anxiety is the fear of letting people down. Anna Dearmon Kornick, a time management coach and host of the *It’s About Time* podcast, suggests preventing this before you even pack your bags.
“I put up an autoresponder that is a little bit more detailed than ‘Hey, I’m out of the office,’” Kornick advises. “I let people know when I will be unavailable, whether I will be checking email intermittently or not at all, and—based on who you are—when to expect a response.”
By setting these boundaries clearly, you stop people from wondering why you haven't replied. “The sooner that you recognize that you can’t respond to everyone at once, the easier it’s going to be to prioritize based on importance and urgency,” she says.
### 2. Give Yourself a Buffer Day
Pamela A. Reed, time management coach and author of *Unfinished Business*, swears by a physical buffer between the beach and the office.
“Typically, I take an extra day of vacation to get used to the fact that I have to return to work!” she admits.
Use this day not to work, but to prepare your mind. Make a list of upcoming tasks without overwhelming yourself. Prioritize that list—asking what is past due, what needs to happen today, and what can wait. “Now I have everything organized in my brain, it is written down, and I can finally start conquering the tasks at hand,” Reed explains.
### 3. Create a Pre-Vacation Game Plan
Don't wait until you are sitting at your desk to figure out what you are doing. Katie Wussow, a business coach and host of *The Game Changer* podcast, recommends making your to-do list for the week *before* you leave.
“Making your to-do list ahead of time will allow your mind to truly rest when you are out of the office, knowing that you have a game plan for your return,” Wussow says.
She also suggests running that list by your supervisor or teammates before you head out. This ensures everyone is on the same page regarding your priorities when you walk back through the door.
### 4. Start with "Quick Wins"
When faced with a pile-up of work, where do you start? Samphy Y, a productivity coach, uses the first day back to organize, prioritize, and knock out the small stuff.
“I write down all of the tasks and use the Eisenhower Matrix to organize them,” Samphy says. “As I process the tasks, I’d do only tasks that take less than five minutes. For tasks that take longer, I’d block time for them on my calendar.”
Anything that can be delegated gets outsourced, and distractions are eliminated. This strategy helps you feel productive immediately without burning out on a massive project on day one.
### 5. Adopt a "Slow Start" Mindset
Rashelle Isip, a productivity consultant, emphasizes the importance of self-compassion during the re-entry phase.
“It took me several days to unwind and relax; similarly, it’s going to take several days for me to get back to my regular routine,” Isip says.
She gives herself a pep talk and works on one task at a time. She also uses a specific email hack: she reviews emails in reverse chronological order. By reading current emails and working backward without taking action, she gets a big-picture view of the situation so that when she reaches the end, “nothing is a huge surprise.”
### 6. Nuke the Unread Count
For many, the sheer number of unread emails is the most stressful part of returning. Rachel Wilkerson Miller, a Vox senior editor, has a radical solution: just mark them all as read.
“I have really tried to let go of the idea that I have to spend my first day back frantically ‘making up’ for the time I was off,” Miller says.
Instead of hiding in her office, she tells her team, “Today I’m getting caught up.” Then, she removes the visual stress of the inbox. “I’ll just immediately do a ‘mark all as read’ in my inbox, just to remove that feeling of, ‘Oh no, I have so much to do and I have to do it all immediately!’” she explains.
This allows her to work through her messages at a regular, human pace, rather than a frantic one.