Blog 57: When it’s time to come back to work . . . regardless of how good that holiday was. Where work meets vacation – PART 3

calendar with a post it note saying back to work

Now I know you’ve still got a week to go to the Easter vacation.  Keep in mind this blog series is about setting you up for healthier holidays.  So project yourself forward onto the Easter holiday as you read this blog. You may want to also diary this blog to reread and apply the activities on a certain day toward the end of your holiday.

OK, so your holiday is winding up.  For some, the skills and attitudes we have discussed in ‘Your Life Caddy’ these past couple of weeks have made a significant difference.  For others, perhaps you only made small gains . . . but celebrate that.  Improvement is a journey.  Catch the small habits and rhythms that made a difference.  We can build on them next time.

But it doesn’t matter how good the holiday was or how well you mentally kept work at bay, we all wish that vacation lasted that little bit longer.

Now it’s time to confront the inevitable . . . it’s time to return to work. How do i get my head in the right space?  How do i make those small improvements to my work life to become more productive and deliver better outcomes?  It’s time to take that time out before you reenter work, so grab a good drink and think this through.  Here’s how to come back on the front foot:

This blog focuses on the need for you to take some time out to reflect on four activities that will help you recentre when you return from vacation.

Recentre:  Look at things from a different perspective.  If this was your business, what attributes do you most desire in your staff?   If you’re the boss, what are you most looking for in an employee?  What is my work-life posture?

Hungry,  Humble,  Smart

  • Hungry to grow and achieve, hungry to get good results,
  • Humble, there is a humility at your core.  It doesn’t need to be all about you, but others, the team and the organisation.
  • Smart, how’s your emotional intelligence?  How are you at understanding others – customers, suppliers, your colleagues and management, yourself?

Reflection 1:  How would your supervisors rate you against being humble, hungry and smart? 

Next step.  Check your rocks, stones and sand:  Here’s what we’re trying to avoid: 

jar packed incorrectly with sand first, then stones then rocks

Is that what your work life looks like?  Trying to fit too much in your jar?  Time to reassess and repack the jar.  The jar is only so big and that’s why it’s important to maintain margins in your life.  No over-filling.  What are the most important aspects in your work life (the rocks)?  Put them in first.  Then the next most important aspects of your work life (the stones) and lastly the sand which fills the time and while important, do not necessarily deliver the key outcomes you are responsible for.  Take time to separate these items on some paper in your time out.  The graphic will make the disparities more apparent to you.

Reflection 2:  What are your rocks? What is most important in your work life?

Here’s your next time out activity.  Let’s drill down another level.  Make a worksheet like the template below.  A column which itemizes the key results you want to deliver this year (this year’s goal).  Make sure those goals are clearly measureable (no guessing or ‘feeling’ when you have achieved them).  In the next column, articulate what you want to achieve in this quarter.  In the third column, write a list of ‘to dos’ that will help you achieve those goals in the quarter.  Break up the ‘quarterly’ jobs into smaller components and set a deadline for each.  One more column . . . ‘Blockers’.  Briefly detail what aspects are blocking or preventing your progress.  You should end up with something that looks like this . . .

rocks and stones table

Reflection 3: Fill out this table (above)

While this tool should help you make the main thing the main thing, there is an extra lever in this tool.  In your first week back, make a time with your upline to run through this worksheet.  Now they may not know what to do with this (and they may not to know what to do with such a proactive, hungry employee), but it provides them with opportunity to steer you if you haven’t got the main thing the main thing.  So, be open, humble and teachable in that conversation.  It is gold to both of you. 

All of that said, now make sure you ask these questions BEFORE you return to work (keep in mind we are still in that time out quiet space with a nice drink shaping your return to work):

Reflection 4:  You have three dot points to consider (below). 

  • Have you considered your work-life balance?  What will fill your tank, week to week, over the next quarter?  What makes your life rich?  Have you made space or plans for that?   
  • What are the rhythms and routines you need to embed in your work life that will protect you from over-working while maximising the outcomes you are driving?  Have you proactively embedded these practices into your daily life?  Would i find these in your diary?
  • Have you put some closed-door time in your diary (if possible)?

That’s more than enough for one time out (reflection/planning time).  Good job, you are ready to reenter.  Now you can put work away until you arrive at work, you are ready to go.  Just one last thought . . . 

Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth

Mike Tyson

Just know that you have made some good plans in quiet.  You will return to a whirlwind, where things may have shifted while you are away.  The world has been rotating while you have been living la vida loca.  Expect shift and things to come from left field.  Be ready for the unexpected with confidence that you will handle it and be better at work. . .  because you took time to give yourself a good holiday and planned your return well.

All the best on your return to work

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