The return to work after your well-deserved fortnight in the sun isn’t all bad. After all, your crisp white work shirts look fabulous offset against your tan, and you have reams of photographs to “entertain” your workmates with! However, once you’ve regaled them all with tales of your adventures it’s time to face the dreaded list of emails that have pinged in whilst you’ve been away.
It may be too late for this year, but it’s worth making some preparations before you jet off to make the transition back into business smoother after your next break. Set up an auto-reply on your emails prior to leaving and establish contact boundaries with your colleagues. You may need to be kept abreast of major business issues whilst you are on holiday, but you might not want office gossip distracting you from your trashy novel whilst lazing around the pool.
Try not to plan the commencement of any ambitious and huge-scale projects for as soon as you get back – the first day in the office should be about reorienting yourself. You may still be feeling the effects of jet lag – or one Pina colada too many – so don’t set yourself any hugely demanding targets immediately. Except for the aim of describing your hotel/food/snorkelling expedition in the minutest detail of course!
A brief catch up with peers before you switch on your computer can pay dividends. This will help with prioritising once you start trawling through your messages, particularly as generous and sympathetic colleagues may have already dealt with some issues. But remember when you have just started up a business, taking a break at different times of the year will benefit you in the long run.
