Coming back from vacation? Get ready!
During an extended vacation, you can completely forget about work – in fact, you should! A mental disconnect from work matters is essential to give your mind a proper rest. Generally, unless you’re an advanced workaholic, such a break shouldn’t be very difficult. The uphill struggle begins when the vacation comes to an end and a return to everyday life starts looming over you.What can you do to return to work after two weeks of sweet idleness and still feel happy, energized, and relaxed?
Photo by Ishak Ahmed on Unsplash
Vacation is over, it's time to go to work
Some people return from their vacation with fully charged batteries, their heads full of new ideas, and with a fresh desire to act. Others would absolutely love to stay, at least a few more days, in a cottage by the lake, on a mountain trail or at the beach - they get nauseous at the very thought of turning on the computer. How we experience the end of a vacation and the return to work after an extended absence is quite an individual matter. For those who belong to the former category, we have compiled a few tips to help you prepare even better for returning to the post-holiday reality.
If you can, prepare for your return before you even leave: try to finish as many tasks as possible, especially the most urgent ones, so that after vacation you don't have to immediately jump into the deep end, but rather get started slowly and gradually; completing less demanding or “looser” tasks first.
It's also a good idea to plan your trip in a way that gives you have at least 2-3 more days off when you return home. This will make the transition from leisure to professional mode a little smoother: you’ll be able to unpack in peace, get used to everyday life, and prepare your workspace – both the physical office space and the one that’s in your head.
In spare moments between exploring new places and lounging on the beach, think about ways to improve your daily recovery once you're back at work.
There's no fooling ourselves that two or three weeks of rest a year will recharge our batteries. Regeneration is a continuous process, the cycles of discharging and recharging energy cannot happen once a year, we need to think about it every day. Let's plan activities we can undertake during these cycles to provide us with regenerative experiences for the next six months. For example, let's plan in advance what regenerative activities we will do on consecutive weekends, let's reserve at least one or two evenings a week for relaxation, or think about what we could change in the way we organize our work day to make it more conducive to regeneration.
psychologist
Photo by Vasilis Caravitis on Unsplash
One vacation a year? That’s not enough
A longer vacation at least once a year is the minimum necessary to take care of one's own physical and mental health. But don't stop there - we need to rest every single day. A week or two off work is something like a spring clean: just because we do it once a year doesn't mean that for the remaining months we shouldn’t clean at all. Just imagine how everything gets covered with an ever thicker layer of dust and how microorganisms establish their own state and declare independence on your dirty dishes. And after a year when you decide to clean it up, can you do it in a week or two? Rest is similar: if you neglect this subject all year long, you won't make up for everything during a two-week vacation, even on the most paradisiacal of paradise islands.
No matter how you plan your vacation, its positive effects will quickly pass, and after a month we will no longer remember that we even went on vacation. Therefore, psychologists suggest that regeneration and rest cannot be limited to a vacation once a year, it must occur in weekly cycles, each evening and it should start at work.
Weekly cycles for recharging our batteries refer to weekends as a time of rest. For unknown reasons, a week has 7 days and in most cultures one of those days is designated to rest. Studies show that nothing replaces weekend rest; spending time with family, engaging in physical activity or simply relaxing at home.
Evening cycles refer to time after work spent at home, during which we should think about indulging in restorative practices. We should also plan our work day to include activities that allow for regenerative experiences. A coffee break with well-liked co-workers, a moment of peace and quiet between clients or patients, trying new foods in the cafeteria - there are many activities that can start supporting our regeneration at work.
psychologist
Tidy up your work space
While you're on vacation, it's also a good idea to make sure your return to work is more enjoyable and more productive - even a light refresh and reorganization of your space will help. As the summer at Oakywood was full of product launches, you now have some new accessories to make your work easier. If you have our desk shelf, you can buy functional modular drawers to fit neatly under it. This is one of our products that gives you great customization possibilities: you can choose from 2 sizes of steel bases and 4 types of wooden modules, which you can combine in different ways. For a small drawer, we suggest another novelty: an organizer for your writing tools. Still not enough storage space in your home office? Take advantage of your walls by installing floating shelves, which form a cohesive visual and functional unit with our desks. Speaking of desks: if you're considering buying a standing desk, there are now 2 versions to choose from: Touch and Pro.
When organizing your workspace, some beautiful and practical trays, pots, and stands, will make it easier for you to not only keep your desk tidy, but also highly ergonomic. And before you get to work, don't forget to charge your phone, headphones, and Apple Watch – our wireless chargers and docking stations can help you with that.
Tidying up your work space has “therapeutic” qualities in itself: on one hand, it allows you to cool down from heightened holiday emotions, but also transition smoothly and stress-free back into your professional mode.
Help in arranging a home office
If you’re unsure of what solutions to implement while arranging your home office, it might be useful to get professional help. Standing desk or a classic one? If standing – Pro or Touch? With or without casters? How to set up your desk with accessories to create a personal ecosystem that’s best suited to your individual needs? What solutions will guarantee the maximum comfort and ergonomics? When looking for optimal solutions, you can benefit from the support of Oakywood experts Karolina, Mateusz, and Patryk. Request a free consultation and create a workspace that will make you want to end your vacation early.
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