🏁 Productivity
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Sep 19, 2024
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4 min read
It's the end of the holidays. You've been back for a little while now, but somehow the motivation still hasn't returned. You can’t figure out why; you just can’t get back into the swing of things... If this sounds like you, this article is for you.
Getting back to work after days, weeks, or even months off: it’s no easy task. You worked so hard to disconnect, leave the work worries behind, and clear your mind of all those professional pressures… and now you have to dive back into them!
Why was it easier before?
It sounds like a million-dollar question, right? But the answer is actually really simple. You had a routine! Your body had its habits, its reference points, its system, and its shortcuts.
By going on vacation, you broke that routine it had built. Now it has to completely reset itself. And, like many of us, when you left, you probably left yourself some “great” gifts for your return— “I'll deal with that after vacation" —or forgot that the world didn’t stop spinning while you were away, and your coworkers added to your workload!
It’s enough to make your head spin. But before you get overwhelmed, it’s crucial to quickly rebuild a routine before things spiral out of control and potentially lead to burnout.
Our 4 Tips for Getting Back to Work
To help you better manage the stress of getting back into work mode, we’ve come up with 7 top tips that will help you stay productive while avoiding burnout. Ready?
🎯 Set Goals Quickly
Before you feel completely overwhelmed, set yourself some goals. To be effective and truly helpful, they need to meet two criteria: they should be simple and progressive. In other words, they should be achievable by the end of your day, with difficulty increasing gradually as the days go on.
Here’s how:
🔗 Get aligned. Write down your top three goals and the three activities you spend most of your time on each day. Do they match up?
🧠 Use SMART goals. Make sure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Stop getting lost in endless to-do lists. Learn to sort, organize, and prioritize your tasks.
📅 Opt for long-term planning. It’s important to know what you’ll be doing tomorrow, in three months, or by the end of the year. This gives structure and meaning to each task. You’re no longer working in a constant fog; you’re building your future day by day. Create a long-term plan with short-, medium-, and long-term goals to stay focused on your priorities.
🌱 Rebuild Your Work Routine
Your routine has probably taken a hit during the vacation period, so it’s time to rebuild it—or repair it before it becomes counterproductive.
The best approach is to break your day into three blocks: before work, during work, and after work. In each of these segments, list out the important tasks you need to accomplish. Why? Because if you don’t, it opens the door to procrastination and... most of the time, you'll end up wasting precious time on your phone!
You can try using the Jomo app, available for free on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. The goal? To protect your work and rest time from the constant interruptions of your phone.
🥞 Set up a "Wake Up Without Screens" session: Block work-related apps and the ones that make you feel guilty, or worse, remind you too much of the vacation (social media, for example).
🖥️ Set up a "Work" session: Block non-professional and entertainment apps (streaming, social media, etc.). This will prevent you from being constantly interrupted by notifications or friends still on vacation!
🔌 Set up a "Disconnect from Work" session: Block professional apps after you’ve left the office. Don’t let work creep back into your life. Structure your days so they’re productive but not overwhelming!
💪 Stay Motivated Long Term
At first, you’ll feel motivated: you’ve had a good rest and you’re ready to tackle things head-on. But after a few days, you might start slipping… bad habits sneak back in!
"Focus on being productive instead of busy." – Tim Ferriss
The hardest part, as you’ve probably guessed, is maintaining that first wave of motivation over the long term. Here are some key tips: take regular breaks, set daily limits (overworking one day isn’t a win—you’ll just be exhausted the next day), do regular self-reviews (Am I being effective? How’s my progress? Am I easily distracted?), and quickly find solutions to these challenges.
💡 Develop Skills
Getting lots of tasks done and plowing through your workload is good, but it’s not what will sustain your motivation or help you keep up with the pace in the long run. It’s the skills you develop that keep you going. Knowing that what you’re doing helps shape who you are professionally, and allows you to build long-term skills that you can use in the future, is crucial.
That’s why it’s important to take the time to realize that you’re not just "working"—you’re shaping who you are.
“The question you should be asking isn’t, 'What do I want?' or 'What are my goals?' but 'What would excite me?'” ― Tim Ferriss
We’ve reached the end of this article, and by now you’ve probably understood: being 120% motivated from the start is a big challenge, and you’re far from alone in feeling this way (quite the opposite!). If there’s one thing to take away from this article, it’s that you should always stay one step ahead to anticipate those low-energy moments. Don’t assume your motivation will stay at its peak for weeks on end. Feel free to try Jomo for free, available on the App Store for iPhone, iPad, and Mac.
