How to get back on track after a break

You've been away for a few days, either on holiday or travelling and it's your first day back in the office.

It can take a while to settle back into your normal working routine, especially if it's been a shortened working week - it's easy to lose track of what day it is.

Here are a few tips to get you back on track:

• Don't overload your first day back at work.  Give yourself time to get back up to speed.

• Avoid booking meetings on your first day so you have clear time for planning and catch-up.

• Resist the temptation to just get on with the first thing that comes up.  If you've been away travelling there will be added demands on your time and people wanting to catch-up.

• Book short review meetings with direct reports to get you and your team back up to speed.

• Take time to plan your day and the rest of the week.  List out what you need to do - what's important for today.  Prioritise the tasks and add them to your schedule.

• Review your daily schedule - what meetings do you have booked in for this week.  Set reminders ahead of time - you're less likely to miss appointments if you get a reminder in plenty of time or you review your schedule regularly.

• Work in short bursts to clear an email or paper backlog.  Don't get drawn into the detail - just quickly go through your Inbox or pile of paperwork and sort and prioritise it first before you deal with it.

Use a timer or app like FocusBooster to keep you on track.

overload (Photo credit: rent-a-moose)

Related articles

• Too much email?
• Get to your meetings on time (clareevans.blogspot.com)