Break-Up With Your Last Vacation

“Vacation is almost not worth it!” I heard a friend exclaim. “I worked so hard to go on vacation and now I’m struggling to get back in the flow of work. My “mojo” is gone.”

Yep, me too. After a wonderful vacation, I’m struggling with the same thing. The problem is that as an entrepreneur who is responsible for making the rain for the business if I’m not working at my best, the business isn’t making money. Yikes.

How can I solve the problem of my business suffering from my vacation?

I started with a Google search and found a wealth of information. Much of it was too light for my serious case of vacation blues. My next step was to consult my grad school psychology manuals. Bingo! I came to find out this problem is common—so common that the topic has been studied.

What advice did I find on getting my “mojo” back? There are six steps.

Step 1 – Make the Break

Examining my re-entry problems I realize that there was a constant comparing of my normal life with the life that I lived on vacation (i.e. “this time last week I was in an art class overlooking the town square”). An everyday life, no matter how wonderful, can’t compare to the leisurely activities of vacation. So it’s best to make a clean break. Stop reliving it; put the vacation behind you.

Step 2 – Get back into your old routine

Do you go to yoga every morning or meet colleagues after work? No matter your routine, get back into them as quickly as possible.

Step 3 – Think about what you missed

No matter how wonderful the vacation is, identify the things you missed at home. This can be little things like your favorite pillows or perhaps your dogs.

Step 4 – Don’t kill yourself

Start slow. You don’t have to make up all the work in the first few days back. Working too much will create an even bigger contrast.

Step 5 – Apply what you learned

One of the treats of going on vacation is what you learn, sometimes about yourself. Did you have a new experience that you can apply to your life? Did you see something that moved you? Whatever the experience, think about how it integrates into your life.

Step 6 – Start planning your next vacation

Despite the difficulties of re-adjusting to reality, vacations are important to broadening our minds and making us better at work.

Welcome back!

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