You’re thinking about taking a break from work to get some down time, but you’re worrying about falling behind. If you take time off there’s a list of things that won’t get done and that’s scary. But you also know you need the time off.

taking time off.

It’s not the break that’s the worry; you’re looking forward to that. It’s getting back into the routine, particularly if it’s a routine that’s taken you a while to build. But you know you’ve earned, and need, the break. Down time. Headspace. Call it what you want but you need it.

In organisational psychology, the term for this is psychological detachment from work. The research consistently finds that mentally switching off from work during time off, not just physically being away, is what predicts feeling recovered, less exhausted, and performing better afterwards. This mental switch off includes low-level work like checking emails. Studies on holidays also find the wellbeing boost is real but the benefit lasts longer when you plan your return well.

So, how do you get back into your routine?

define your break.

Holidays can play out in different ways. There’s the mad rush to get everything done before you go, followed by the mad scramble to catch up when you are back. You’re even more exhausted before you go and quickly feel exhausted when you’re back. Or you put everything off until you are back and then worry about it while you are away. Maybe you just do a few bits while you are away, that will keep you on track.

When you define your break as the period of time you are away on holiday, you can plan for it and plan for when you are back. It has a fixed start and end. By defining these points, you can stop the creep. They don’t need to be the day you leave and the day you return, they are defined by when you need to switch off and when you’ll be ready to be back at work. You planned your holiday ahead of time, so why not plan your return to work too.

my holiday.

I’m just back from a ten-day holiday in the sun. The first proper time off I’d taken in seven years, and my first since going self-employed. I had a conversation with my partner a few weeks before about how I was going to manage my work and agreed that a little bit of work would be beneficial. So, I planned to use the time for strategic work and scheduled all my content before I went. I also had a plan for what I needed to focus on when I got back.

I work well with routine but can find it difficult to get back into one when I’ve stopped. So, while I was away, I got up at my usual time and did an hour of work and then went for my run. It was warm and hardly anyone was around and I ran along the coast. It was perfect and signalled to my brain that my work was done. I put my laptop away before I went out, so I couldn’t see it. Then, I enjoyed my day, fully focused on whatever we were doing. I love sitting on the balcony late afternoon, so I protected this time too. We ate dinner much later than I’m used to, so after a walk to watch the sunset, I would catch up on work for half an hour and then go to bed. For me, this was the perfect balance of keeping things moving and having a break.

everyone is different.

That’s what worked for me, on this holiday. It’s not something I’m in the habit of doing. In fact, early in my career I learned to stop looking at emails out of hours and definitely not on holiday. There was the odd exception depending on what I was working on, but mostly I left work at work. This year was my first as self-employed, so I created balance between rest and work. Next holiday might be different again.

What helped is that I didn’t need to do the work. There were no pressing deadlines. No pressure on me to get something done. That means the work I did was optional, I could choose in the moment whether or not I wanted to do it. That easing of pressure is a rest in itself. Prepping everything before I went to give me the space to think and plan, if I wanted to.

getting back to work.

Getting back into your routine after time off is really its own task, and I’ve written about that separately. But a good return starts before you leave. Here are the things that work for me:

1. Write my to-do list as if I was going to be working the next day. This keeps the continuity of thought, keeps priorities in the right order, and lets me pick up where I left off.
2. Plan my week. Having taken a long time to find a planning system that works for me, I fiercely protect this. I plan the first few days or week after I get back. This means I’m planning with my tried and tested approach but also using information that’s fresh in my mind instead of trying to remember.
3. Schedule ahead. I schedule content and complete things that are needed while I’m away, so I extend this to the end of my first week back. This creates some breathing time and keeps me working ahead of where I need to be.

focus on one thing.

While I’m on my break I try to keep one key thing of my routine going. This time it was my wake-up time. It might be the amount of water you drink, or the number of hours of sleep you get. One little habit can keep you grounded and help you confidently take a break knowing that you won’t fall behind.

If getting back into your routine after a break is something you find hard, that’s what I help with. Book a free introductory call.