Getting back to work

One of the most important things for building and growing a business is momentum, It is one of the core features of the REBEL girl methodology - do one thing a day on your business. It sounds so simple but simple doesn’t mean easy.

Last week my husband and I took some time off to get away. We travelled north from Edinburgh to the town of Pitlochry in Perthshire. Unsurprisingly for October in Scotland, the weather wasn’t always kind and there was a lot of walking in the rain! But there was also autumn colour, cosy log burners to tend to and, of course, a hot tub.

In the run-up to going away, I am very productive. I know what I want to get done and I have a very real deadline to do it before we go away. I want to take time off with the peace of mind that I’ve done what I needed to for my business. This issue for me is when I get back. I’ve often lost the work routine I had before I went away. I am more relaxed and struggle to get back to it. Here are some things that I do to try to get back to it with grace.

PREPARE AND PLAN

The first thing, and for me most important, is to do your planning before you go. I take half an hour before I shut everything down to look at the week I am back at work. The appointments I have, the time I have for working etc. I look at the tasks I want to achieve next and write them down very clearly. I love it when I find a message from myself that says exactly what I need to do! Mapping this out makes it easy when I get back. I don’t have to try to get back to that mindset straight away and remember where I was and what I wanted to do. I plan my activities for that week in detail so I can sit down and get started.

FIRST TASK

There are lots of maxims that say to ‘do the worst thing first thing’ or eat the frog, which just means doing your hardest most demanding task first. If that works for you then go for it. Straight after a holiday, what I need is a task that I am looking forward to. I do not want to sit down and tackle my tax return! So I bear that in mind too when planning my week. Gently easing myself back into the working week is needed because if it’s something I’m dreading I know myself well enough to know I will put off getting started and that will end with me wasting time and not getting the fun tasks or the hard tasks done!

SET YOUR DATE AND STICK TO IT

Before you take time off, set your date for starting work again. I’ve learnt this one the hard way! If you are travelling home, sometimes you can ‘just need to get on top of the washing’ or do all those little tasks that soon add up. If you think you will need time for this, schedule to do a small task on your first day back. The key is to do something and get back into working so you can build back that hard-won momentum.

A TIDY DESK

This is something I do at the end of every day but tidying my desk and clearing up any notes I have is very important for me. I need to come back to a fresh space and any scribbles I’ve made need to be added to my ‘future me list’ (for some reason I find the term ‘to do list’ a bit harsh and stressful but a ‘future me’ list feels much more expansive and fun!).

STRUCTURE + STRATEGY + ACHIEVEABLE

I hope you’ve found this helpful and that you thought it was common sense! Sometimes in our busyness, we can lose sight of the basic things we can do to make our working life easier. The Good Girl Rebellion app is set up to give you a structure which flexes with your needs, a strategy and the opportunity to build momentum on your business.