This week we’re talking about easing back into work! 

Whether you’re returning to work after a vacation, coming off a long weekend, or maybe just transitioning from Summer to Fall, moving from a state of relaxation to routine often feels abrupt and jarring… 

The mental shift from leisure to productivity can be tough, leaving you unmotivated, or overwhelmed with catching up on missed emails or unfinished projects. 

It can be hard to know where to start.

So, this week we'll be sharing strategies for getting back into the groove of things after time off. We’ll ease back into it together!

P.S. If you feel like you need a vacation after a vacation, or just another day off after the weekend… you’re not alone.

Start With a Brain Dump 🧠💡

Feeling like you need to get everything done as soon as you return is one reason some people dread returning to their work after taking time away. 

Putting that weight on yourself causes a ton of anxiety, which can kill your motivation. That’s why it’s better to take things a bit slower, rather than rushing to complete everything. 

Another challenge when you come back to work is that your priorities might feel a bit murky.

If you’re returning to work from time away and you can’t quite remember who you are or what exactly you do here... 😜 … a “Brain Dump” is a great way to ease back into the week, and get centered.

If you’re not familiar with the term Brain Dump, it is a technique to help you get everything out of your head, and onto a piece of paper or a list.

After purging your brain of spiraling to-do's, you can then do the work of filtering and prioritizing based on urgency and importance.

Here’s how to do a Brain Dump:

First, grab a piece of paper or open a virtual doc, and quickly write down any tasks or goals that are on your mind. 

You don’t need to filter yourself at this stage, if it’s swirling around your head — get it out.

After the Brain Dump, you can then make a To-Do List by ranking the items on your list in order of urgency and importance.

Honor Your Time

It’s tempting to try to push away the vacation vibes because you feel like you need to just get right back at it, but it really doesn’t help.

A good way to recover your productivity is to actually celebrate your time away, so you can hold on to positive experiences and draw energy from them.

Honor your time, and reminisce on those beautiful memories you made! 

If you find your mind wandering back to good times, let it become a moment of joy that fuels your day. Everything will be waiting for you on the other side.

A few ways you can celebrate your time away include:

🖼️ Decorating your space with pictures that remind you of the highlights of your time away.

🕯️ Setting up a diffuser or lighting a candle with a scent that reminds you of the summer, or of a vacation you took.

🍜 Recreating a dish that you had during the summer or on vacation.

Even if you had a staycation, you can still hold onto memories in the same way! 

Doing this gives you back the positivity that can boost your energy and get you through the day.

Take Micro Breaks

Something important: Just because you just had one break, doesn’t mean that you don’t need more breaks, or should stop taking them!

Our brains cannot stay focused on the same task for a long time without eventually turning to mush, especially after time off. 

Breaks actually help us get back on track by allowing our minds to shift into diffuse mode. (For more on diffuse mode, check out our theme from a couple weeks ago about how our brains learn best!)

Be sure to take intentional breaks to reset, like we do during our Community Sessions! 

During breaks, it can be tempting to scroll on our phones… but I invite you to try doing other activities instead sometimes.

You could stretch your body, practice some deep breathing, listen to a song you love, look out the window and watch a bird, or anything else that pops into your mind.

In short: take the time to step away from whatever you are doing to do something that feels joyful and restorative. It will be worth it.

Thanks for reading, and if you are returning from time away, I hope your week goes well and that you ease back into things!

See you around some of the sessions,

— Kamilah, focused space host