I just returned from the beautiful and historic city of London.  I miss my friend already and both my parents and in-laws happily informed us after our arrival home last night that you always take the following day off from work.  That’s all well and good except I have the Independent Energy Human Resources Association Conferenceto prepare for October 24^th and thought I should pop in the office for at least a few days in October! 

I thought I’d share a few tips to handle your first day back since “always” isn’t exactly an easy feat:

1.      It seems to be a habit for co-workers to leave things they want you to find on top of your keyboard.  Start with that stack and throw away unneeded information then create “do now” and “save for later” piles. 

2.      Now that you can use your computer, get through the hundreds of emails waiting for you.  Again, trash what you can and mark the rest as follow ups.  Wait until you get through everything to respond, since it might have been taken care of by someone else in your absence. 

3.      If you’ve got a stack of resumes on your desk to go through, remind yourself of the open positions and requirements before diving in.  If you’ve had an associate covering for you, make sure to get any updates from them so you’re not wasting time.

4.      Stay focused, but don’t stress out.  You’ll catch up!  The benefitsof vacation far outweigh the post vacation catch-up.

Here are a few more tips to Hit the Ground Running.  What’s your go-to tip for returning to work after vacation?  Just don’t tell me it’s taking the next day off!

Erica L.

Originally posted at: http://uecubenefit.uecu.org/