06 Nov Getting your groove back

The minute you walk through your office door it hits you, all the work that you happily threw out the window on Friday has come back to haunt you. Let’s be honest, the first few hours can be rough. You are scrounging around the office trying to figure out where everything is and start panicking about today’s workload.

Don’t undo all the relaxing you did over the break by stressing out twice as much as before. Take a deep breath and follow these three steps.

1.     Prioritise. 

Make yourself a to-do list, starting with the most urgent tasks. Checking things off as you complete them also makes you feel more accomplished (it really does).

2.     Manage your minutes

Set aside time for outlined tasks. Spend 15 minutes organizing your desk, this will save you from rifling through files throughout the day. Set realistic time limits for the rest of the day and make sure to stay within these parameters.

3.    Don’t skip lunch. 

It is tempting to work through lunch with the goal of increasing productivity and not “wasting time.” However, in the long run this theory will prove false. Think of your mind as a car engine, if you don’t stop for petrol now you will save yourself time in the short run. However, you will eventually slow down, run out of power and then break down all together.

Now take another deep breath and get started!

Written by Dr. Noel Duncan