Vacation is meant for rest and relaxation but coming home is a whole nother story. Instead of stressing yourself out thinking of all the unpacking, laundry, and to-dos you need to get done, check out these tips and tricks for ensuring your transition back to reality doesn’t completely erase your stress free vacation!
You just spent an entire week in sunny Mexico.
Every morning you woke up with no alarm clock, made your way slowly out to enjoy a nice leisurely breakfast, grabbed a book and spent hours reading on the beach with waves crashing in the background, and ended the nights dancing your heart away with your best friends by the cabana.
Now fast forward one week…
You’re on your flight home and go into shock mode. It’s Sunday and you have work tomorrow. You need to do about three loads of laundry, have absolutely no food left in your house, and just checked your email for the first time and see you have 7 million unread emails (alright, we might be exaggerating a little).
But wait, slow down!!!
Vacation is meant for complete rest, relaxation, and a moment to escape from your regular routine, but coming back from vacation sometimes leaves you more stressed out than you were before you left. With so much to unpack, a heavy duty grocery trip on your mind from coming home to an unstocked kitchen, and getting back to a regular routine after a week with no to-do lists, our minds can go a little crazy.
Instead of ditching your rested and relaxed self at the onset of a sudden reality check, it’s important to take a second and realize everything WILL get done. Here are some tips and tricks for making your transition from palm trees, pools, and drinks with cute umbrellas back to the normal day to day routine…
1. Take it slow
First and foremost, take it slow. It’s easy to get overwhelmed when you start thinking of a week’s worth of to-do’s.. Try not to get too ahead of yourself and don’t start making lists until you actually arrive home. You’re technically still on vacation while you’re in the air or in the car so use this time to breathe and reminisce about the amazing trip you just experienced
2. Set up an out of office email and voicemail message
To prevent getting overwhelmed from the 7 million unread emails over the past week, set up an out of office email and voicemail prior to leaving for your trip that states the dates you’ll be gone. This way, the people trying to reach you will know you’re out of the office and if they really need to get ahold of you, they can do so when you’re back in the office.
3. Make a to-do list
Making to-do lists can help you prioritize the important tasks that need to get done. It’s shown that having a written plan of action increases productivity. Make a list of everything you need to do including unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, and don’t forget to include prioritizing time for yourself! Then, rank the order of importance of each task and go about your to-dos in that order. You’ll feel so much more productive when you can check tasks in an orderly fashion.
4. Don’t come home to a completely empty kitchen
Instead of leaving the kitchen entirely empty for you to come home to nothing to eat, try leaving a few items that won’t go bad while you’re away. This way when you arrive home and too exhausted to grocery shop right away, you’ll have a couple items on hand to throw together a quick meal. You can freeze a fresh loaf of bread before you go and keep almond butter in the pantry to throw together a quick sandwich or keep frozen fruits, frozen veggies, and unopened almond milk to blend a nourishing post travel smoothie!
5. Stay in vacation mode as long as possible
Just because you’re not on vacation anymore doesn’t mean you can’t stay in somewhat of a vacation mode. If you had a delicious lunch everyday, treat yourself to a yummy lunch spot you’ve been wanting to try near the office. Or if you enjoyed reading your favorite book by the ocean, end your nights at home reading (maybe put on some soothing ocean sounds in the background)!
6. Sleep and stay healthy
Even if you feel like you have a million tasks to get done, don’t neglect rest as soon as you get home! Traveling can take a toll on your body so it’s especially important you sleep well, eat well, and take care of yourself so you don’t end up getting sick when you’re adjusting back to your normal routine.
Just because you’re no longer spending your days soaking up the sun without a worry in the world, doesn’t mean you have to erase all that when reality strikes. Just remember to take a moment, breathe, and remind yourself everything will get done!