Back to work: Keep going

The final couple of thoughts/rules - call them what you will!

Firstly, tackle the backolg methodically. You'll need to work out your own method. I have some thoughts, which I might post another time - but I would advocate that you do not start at the top of the pile (physical or electronic) and work your way down.

Secondly, set realistic daily targets and stick to them. making progress against these targets is a great incentive to keep going - especially mid-afternoon on day 3, when you feel thoroughly jaded (the Scots word 'scunnered' covers it very well!).

Finally, take a few moments as you're tackling your mountain to remember something positive from your break ... then start again until you hit your target for the day!

Back to work: Hold your nerve

Some more rules for going back to work…

Plan ahead – assuming that you know when you’re going to be away from work for a while (apart from sickness etc), plan your diary for your return. How you approach this will depend on the type of work you do. I try to keep the first day back as clear as possible. This allows me to make a dent in the backlog and – importantly – to wander round and have a chat with my colleagues and staff group. I also like to keep a couple of half days clear later in the week, to allow for further catching up and to provide space for meetings to deal with anything important that has cropped up while I’ve been away.

Having said this, I must confess that planning ahead isn’t always successful - in which case…

Count the days properly – If your diary is packed with meetings, or attending conferences etc as soon as you return to work, then you can’t expect to catch up during that time. I draw a distinction between ‘calendar day 1’ – the first day that I’m officially back at work - and ‘virtual day 1’ – the first day that I have control over my diary. I then plot my progress in eliminating the backlog from virtual day 1.

Keep up! – earlier in my career I would try to prioritise the backlog and then add in new work as it came in. I found this to be very frustrating and it seemed that I never managed to catch up with the backlog. Nowadays, I endeavour to keep up with the incoming stuff, rather than adding it to my backlog. This might be a bit idiosyncratic, but it works for me!!

Final batch of rules to follow…

Back to work: DON’T PANIC!

Just like the warning on the Hitch-Hikers’ Guide to the Galaxy - not like Corporal Jones in Dad's Army!!

Going back to work after holidays seems to turn normally rational people into gibbering idiots.

I was speaking to a colleague recently who was lamenting that she hadn’t caught up with e-mail by lunchtime of her first day back (after two weeks holiday). For several years now, I’ve taken the view that unless I’m completely redundant or ludicrously over-resources with staff, there will be a backlog when I return to work. Nowadays it’s mainly e-mail for me – but whatever it is, don’t make the mistake of knocking yourself out by trying to catch up all at once.

I’ve developed some rules/ approaches – call them what you will – which seem to work for me. I’ll share them over the next couple of days.

My first rule is DON’T PANIC. If your organisation didn’t collapse while you were on holiday, the chances are that it will survive for a few days while you catch up on the backlog. Alternatively, if it’s on the brink of collapse because you’ve taken a holiday, it’s probably not worth catching up anyway!

My second rule is the rule of ‘double time’. This doesn’t mean that I get paid extra for catching up. Nor does it mean that I put in heaps of extra time to focus on it. It does mean that I set myself a target for restoring stability – if I’ve been away for a day, I give myself two days; one week = two weeks; two weeks = four weeks. (At this point I’m going to assume that you can multiply time by two and, therefore, not provide any more examples.)

More rules to follow shortly…