Motivation After Vacation

The Monday after a vacation is the worst! Who wants to go back to work after lounging at the pool or hiking in the woods far far away from the hustle and bustle of the daily grind? Even a long weekend getaway can have the best of us thinking about calling in sick, or for those of us that work from home, crawling back into bed and pretending Monday just doesn't exist. I love my job, I mean, I really LOVE it, and I still hate the Monday after a vacation!

I recently returned from a week of camping at the beach. Not only did I play more paddle ball and do more swimming than I've done in 20 years, I began and ended the trip with a 10 hour drive. Needless to say I was stiff, tired, a little sun burned, and not into Monday at all.

Luckily, I had a three step plan that was so strategic I didn't even know I planned it!

Step One: Order something fun and work related that will arrive while you're away (don't forget to ask someone to pick up the mail or have it delivered to a P.O. Box so it doesn't get swiped). Big or small, this should be something that will make you want to pull yourself together and get back to work. A new coffee mug, that pair of shoes you've been eyeing, or a new CD (CD? who listens to CD's anymore!? I know. I really need to up my media game.) to jam out to during the commute should do the trick.

I was lucky enough to have some new cabochons from some of my favorite Etsy suppliers waiting for me that had me anxious to get back to the bench. But before I could start sketching I needed to take care of something I started before I left.

Step Two: Schedule something for the Monday you return that is still in need of a couple of tweaks. Keep this simple. We want to ease back into a routine not stress ourselves out!

In this case the bulk of my post on stacking rings was complete all I needed to do was complete a few new listings in the Etsy shop and add the links to the blog post. Boom! I updated my shop and had something new to share on social media.

Step three: Share a photo of your trip. Not only will this put you back in a relaxed state of mind, the idea of returning will be a great motivator to get back to work and make it happen. Bonus points for using a new program to create/share the photo. I made this collage with Layout for Instagram.

Even though I didn't actually formulate this plan as a way to beat the Monday blues ahead of time, it worked so well I'll be putting it into practice for all future vacations!

Thanks for reading!