Monday morning and I’m back to work after our half term break.
My teenager has an extra ‘in service’ day before school starts back. Without the school run, this is an opportunity for me to get into the office nice and early. Via a quick stop at the local Coffee#1 to pick up my skinny flat white.
I’d checked my calendar yesterday afternoon, so I’ve a good idea of what’s on this week. Quite a busy schedule including calls, meetings and appraisals.
I used to find this first day back after a holiday really hard.
But now I’ve got a system that improves every time.
It starts before my holiday begins.
I update my project list and leave myself little notes and reminders of next actions and any deadline dates. I’ll be able to quickly read through these when I return from holiday to remind myself of what I need to do.
I clear my inbox of all emails (I do this every day anyway) so that I will only have current emails when I return. My out of office message is on so any clients and contacts know that I’m on holiday and not ignoring them.
The day before I get back to work.
Yesterday afternoon, I checked my calendar to remind myself what I’m doing this week.
I also had a quick scan of my emails to make sure there isn’t anything urgent that I need to prioritise. This is because I don’t want to deal with emails first thing.
I also work with a ‘do not disturb’ sign on my door for the first two hours of the day. This gives me time to focus, plan and work on all the important things without distraction.
And starting the day in this way puts me in the right frame of mind.
Hx
6/7