I love love love taking vacations, staycations, baecations... heck ANYcation will work for me! However, you can miss me with the planning in advance (Stressful!) and you can definitely take away the post vacation blues (Buzz kill!). However, I'll be ON vacation any day!
This past month, my family and I had a chance to travel to the Bahamas. It was an amazing trip! But the last few days I was there, I found myself lamenting on the return... returning to work, returning to normal life and major responsibilities... So I did a search and decided to implement some of these tips.
Here are some helpful - before, during and after-vacation tips to help you with the post vacation blues:
Before Vacation
Build in a couple of buffer days. So this would mean, returning a couple of days before you have to go back to work. Don't come back on a Sunday night and then jump into work on Monday! 😫. Instead you could either, come back on Sunday and go back to work on Wednesday. OR, you can come back on a Friday so you have the weekend to get your life in order.
Before you leave, take the time to do 3 very important things:
Clean your house and workspace
Delegate work so that things don't pile up while you are away. The last thing you want to do is come back from vacation all zen and stuff and then step into a chaotic house or workspace!! That will kill your vacation. vibes on sight!
Block your calendar for the morning that you return - don't have a ton of meetings scheduled, you'll need some time to get settled before diving right in.
During Vacation
If you're having a very adventurous vacation - build in a self-care/ relaxation day towards the end of the trip. You'll definitely want to take some time to rest and relax. This will help to the avoid the "I need a vacation from the vacation" feeling.
Grab some sort of souvenir that you can bring home with you that will remind you of the trip. It can be a photo, a figurine, some sort of coffee or condiment... you decide. But this will help remind you and take you back to the fun moments you had during vacation.
Post Vacation
The night before you return, pick out your clothes so that the morning routine isn't hectic
Plan your re-entry strategy: start the day off by reconnecting with key people on your team so they can get you up to speed on what happened while you were gone. Get them to help you prioritize what you need to focus on in cleaning out your emails.
Extend your vacation mentality - if you ate certain foods that you fell in love with, find a restaurant locally that serves that cuisine and plan a dinner there. Or if you took up yoga on vacation, try to maintain that routine so you can keep the vibes going.
Lastly and MOST importantly, BOOK THE NEXT VACATION!!! LOL this will give you something to look forward to!
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