What Vacation? It’s Monday Morning!

In a matter of minutes it’s over. My vacation is a now a great memory but it’s Monday morning. Back to the races. Let the games begin. How do you jump back into work without getting swallowed up on the first day? If you are like me, there is a lot to do, a lot to wade through even after one week of being gone. I can only imagine that two weeks on vacation might seem like an insurmountable mountain to scale. Whether you left for a week or more, there is a way to embrace Monday morning and maintain your sanity.

First thing, have a plan. Get through your mail and messages. One of the things I am attempting to avoid today is meetings. Meetings can eat up my day. Some days my entire day is measured by meetings while none of my priorities gets accomplished. My hope, no, my plan is to avoid meetings. I plan to meet with people on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Second thing, work the plan. Ha! That is the challenge. I know already, that sometimes you can have the best laid plans, but every single solitary day, LIFE HAPPENS. In other words, the unexpected things happen that get in the way of working the best laid plans. So how do you combat that? I believe you have to fight to work your plan. I don’t mean in tangible ways. I believe the fight is in the choices we make when LIFE HAPPENS. Choose what you will say yes to, and what you will not. Other people’s emergencies or urgency’s don’t have to be yours. Learn to say “NO” when you can. My objective tomorrow is to say to “NO” to as many things as I can in order to accomplish what I know that I need to accomplish my first day back in the office.

Third, be realistic about what you can actually accomplish on day one. There is absolutely no way you will get to everything. So take it slow. Go back to the planning stage and check. Is your plan realistic? Or are you expecting to conquer the world in one day? Don’t worry about what you don’t accomplish on day one, just make sure you develop a realistic plan and than work that plan. The rest will get handled in the next few days to come.

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