10 ways to come back ready for work after holiday

Whether you’re sunbathing on a white, sandy beach, trekking through the forest, or skiing in the Alps, holidays have to come to an end sometime and you’ll have to return to work. Here, we offer our top 10 ways to come back to work ready after holiday.

10 ways to come back to work ready after holiday

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1. Start as you mean to go on The ring of your alarm on the first morning back to work is never a welcome sound. However, we're firm believers in the idea that you need to begin your first day back in a positive mind frame and start as you mean to go on. Try getting up as early as you can and giving yourself plenty of time to prepare. The last thing you want when coming back from holiday is a rushed, stressful morning that reminds you how tough getting up to go to work can be.
2. Eat well It's also a good idea to make sure you start the day with a proper breakfast. Obviously, ‘a proper breakfast' will mean different things to different people. However, we would recommend a light, fruity muesli, a couple of eggs, or something healthy and fresh that's able to get you going. As a franchise owner, you’ll need all the energy you can get to make it through that first day back, so don’t skip breakfast. Sit down, take the time to prepare something delicious and enjoy a healthy start to the day.
3. Prioritise your time On your return to the workplace, you'll probably find there's quite a lot of work to catch up with. If this is the case, try and prioritise important tasks and get those out of the way first. Not all of the hundreds of emails squatting in your inbox will be urgent. Replies can wait for many of them. Get what needs doing out of the way first and, if you've got time left over, crack on with less important tasks.
4. Give yourself an easier first day While it's a good idea to go into work with the intention of having a productive day, you don't need to overload yourself. Try and ensure that your diary is clear on your first day back and that you've got no meetings or important calls to make. This will relieve some of the pressure of returning and allow you to focus on getting back into the swing of things.
5. Get back in touch with regular contacts If your role involves interacting with certain individuals on a regular basis, it might be beneficial to get in touch, see what has been happening, and let them know you’re back. This may mean giving your most important clients a ring, calling a quick team meeting, or dropping in on any managers or supervisors you work with. These don’t have to be formal meetings – a quick, relaxed chat will do the job.
6. Get up to speed There’s bound to have been a few things you missed out on while you were sunning yourself on holiday. That first day back is the best time to catch up on news, see if there were any important developments while you were away, and ask if there’s anything you need to know. In the vast majority of cases, there will be nothing of great importance. However, it’s a good idea to make sure you’re up to speed and aware of everything that’s happened while you were away.
7. Don’t ruin all that good relaxing There’s a reason you go on holiday. It’s so you’ve got some time to sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself. It’s to give you a bit of personal time away from the stresses of the workplace. It’s to remind you that your franchise and the franchise system aren't the most important things in your life. On returning to work, it's vital that you don't ruin all that good relaxing by immediately throwing yourself into stressful situations that could be avoided. Try and take it easy, dodge unnecessary conflict, and don’t overwork yourself.
8. .Keep a steady focus Returning to the real world after a relaxing holiday can be a shock to the system. There's so much to catch up on and it seems like there are so many things you've missed out on. You could spend hours scrolling through news headlines, social media accounts, and viral videos. You could get caught in long conversations with any number of staff members. If you do, you'll regret it, though. Allowing yourself to be distracted will only add the amount of work you've got to tackle. Rather than decreasing your workload, you'll find that you're behind even more and struggling to keep up. This is not what you want from the first day back.
9. Thank those that covered When you went away, some of your roles and responsibilities were probably covered by other staff members. Now is the time to recognise this support and thank them for keeping things ticking over. Showing your appreciation will demonstrate that you're grateful for being able to trust your employees when you want to go away.
10. Capture that holiday state of mind Finally, on that first day back, you need to capture that holiday state of mind and not let go. It's all too easy to slip right back into work and completely forget about how relaxing and enjoyable your holiday was. Within a couple of days, it may feel as though you never went on holiday at all. To prevent this from occurring and to ensure that you benefit from your time off as much as possible, take a moment to consider your holiday memories. Keeping them fresh will keep you going for longer.

Conclusion

We all need a break sometimes. Even the best business opportunities can tire and stress us out. Taking a holiday is a chance to refresh and relax, without the pressures of work. It would be a shame to return to work and not try and bring that peace of mind with you. If you're heading back to work soon, follow our top ten tips and hopefully you'll benefit from a more positive first week back than you would have otherwise.

By now you should feel in a better mindset when going back to work after holiday, but just as -if not more- important is being happy at work day to day. Therefore, we now look at the top five ways you can be more content and satisfied at work.

Top Five Ways to be Happy at Work

1. Try and do something you love every day It’s usually only the very lucky ones that actually love their job. It’s something we aspire to do from when we are young, but the harsh truth is it often doesn’t become reality. However, if you try hard enough, you will be able to find at least one thing in your job that you love. Take the time to self-reflect on your personality, skills and interests and try and make sure you are doing something you enjoy. Even if it’s just being a friendly face and making your peers laugh, you will find more of a sense of purpose.
2. Make friendships The last thing you want at work, especially if you aren’t enjoying what you are doing, is to feel isolated and alone. Central to having a positive experience at work is liking and enjoying being around your co-workers. Even if judging by first impressions you may think you have nothing in common, take the time to get to know them properly. Having this network at work means you can share your experiences and can relate what the other is going through.
3. Avoid negativity To be happy in your workplace, try to avoid negativity as much as possible. This includes gossip and negative people. Even if you feel in yourself you are happy and content, surrounding yourself with miserable people who create a negative energy will end up having an impact on your mental state. Don’t let other people’s sourness bring you down. You spend 1/3 of your life at work; you don’t want this to be defined by pessimism.
4. Don’t commit to things you can’t keep Feeling like you fail to keep your commitments and live up to your expectations can be incredibly stressful. In fact, a lot of the time employees waste more time making excuses for not keeping a commitment and agonising over the outcome rather than actually performing what they promised.
5. Take responsibility if you are unsure of what is happening One of the biggest issues for people who are unhappy at work is that they aren’t well informed about what is going on in the company and with their coworkers. They might not be proactive enough to ask for the information, and just wait to be told it. The thing is though- a lot of the time they just don’t get told anything. The boss can be busy running the business and unsure of what each individual employee knows. Take control over the information you receive. This could be asking for a weekly and monthly meeting with your boss and taking a list of questions.

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