Out of Office: Coming Back from Vacation the Right Way

Taking time off from work to relax and recharge is great for your mental health. It helps reduce stress and anxiety and prevent burnout.

Whether you’re spending time at the beach with your family or doing some solo soul-searching in another country, realizing it’s time to trade in your hiking boots for your high heels and get back to work can be a real bummer.

Here are 7 tips for a seamless and stress-free transition from vacation to work.

1. Get to work early

After a week or two off, the last thing you want is an extra-long workday. However, arriving just half an hour early will give you a chance to get yourself in the zone mentally and check a few things off your to-do list before the office is abuzz with distractions.

2. Block off the morning on your calendar

You might even want to do this before you leave for vacation, but having the first few hours of the day all to yourself will give you time to catch up on what you missed and prepare yourself for the week ahead without adding more to your plate. Scheduling your day full of meetings will just delay your productivity on last week’s work.

3. Prioritize your to-do list

Spend the first part of your morning sifting through all your unopened emails and voicemails without taking any immediate action. This way, you’ll get a full picture of what needs attention and can schedule the rest of your day or week according to the priority of those items.

4. Turn off vacation mode on all your applications and devices

If you fully unplugged during your time off by setting all your applications to do not disturb, it’s time to let people know you’re accessible again: turn off your auto-reply emails and remove your out-of-office voicemail, etc.

5. Be conscientious of feeling overwhelmed

A seemingly endless post-vacation to-do list can be anxiety provoking. If you start to feel overwhelmed, take a step back and refocus. Trying to do too many tasks at once won’t help you complete things faster. Focus on one item at a time.

6. Don’t work overtime

You work hard all year; you deserve a break. You earned that time off so don’t feel like you need to make up for all of those missed hours when you get back. Get done what you can during the workday and leave the office on time.

7. Have something to look forward to

Returning to everyday life after a vacation can feel a bit depressing. Just because you’re back home doesn’t mean you have to ditch that R&R mentality. Schedule something fun to look forward to your first week back to keep your spirits high.

The Bottom Line

Returning from vacation doesn’t have to be stressful. For a smooth transition from beach to board meeting, schedule your time wisely, remove unnecessary distractions, prioritize your tasks, focus on one thing at a time and, most importantly, don’t punish yourself for taking time to recharge.