Bank holidays, you either love them or loathe them. We all need time off work to rest and recharge, but bank holidays can have a habit of seeing Brits let their hair down a little too much, leaving us dreading the return to work after the weekend is over.
This May has three bank holidays, so keeping up morale when returning to work each time can sometimes feel a bit stressful, as we spend the night before with the ‘Sunday scaries’ thinking about all the tasks we face when the morning comes around.
In fact, LinkedIn studies have found that around 1 in 4 (23%) of UK workers have considered quitting their jobs after returning from a break.
To help Brits get back into the swing of things – and quickly – at work after a bank holiday weekend, People and Culture expert Lily Court, at digital marketing agency, Honchō – recent winners of at the UK Company Culture Awards – offers her 5 top tips:
5 tips for surviving the post-bank holiday work week
Catch up with colleagues to debrief
Have a chat! There’s nothing better after a bank holiday break than catching up with colleagues about their weekend to help ease you back into your working stride.
Take 30 minutes out of your day and chat through what you got up to, and also go over any priorities for work that week.
Chatting through what you have to do that week with others will help you prioritise your tasks in the shorter time you have available.
Not only is it practical for ensuring you’re utilising the 3 or 4-day week, but it’s also a great way to improve your mood and know that you’re not the only one feeling a bit groggy.
If you have any serious concerns about your workload, or how you’re feeling about the return to work, have a chat with your manager or a trusted senior team member who can help.
Spend the morning planning – and plan before you go off next time
Allow yourself a couple of hours to catch up through your messages and emails to organise your shorter week ahead. Doing this will allow you to set your priorities for the week, so you know exactly how to utilise your time without getting overwhelmed.
You could even try scheduling your next workday in advance of the bank holiday. This will allow you to come back with one less thing to stress about, knowing that your upcoming week has already been organised.
Your future self will thank you for it, and it’ll also help with peace of mind if you’re feeling anxious about going back to work after the bank holiday.
Prioritise your to-do list into manageable tasks
Don’t tackle everything at once!
You might already be feeling a little deflated after your time off during the bank holiday. However, managing your workload to the time you have available to you that week is imperative to avoiding burnout.
If there’s a task you know you don’t particularly enjoy doing, then it’s best to get it out of the way first.
From there, sit down and divide your week up into manageable tasks in a way that works best for you, while allowing you to keep on top of any deadlines.
Focus on the small wins
Ease yourself back in. The bank holiday weekend has a way of convincing you to let your hair down, sometimes a little too much…
When the work week starts back up again, try not to focus too much on the larger tasks you have. Rather, start the week with small wins to ease you back into your routine.
Psychological research shows that celebrating ‘small wins’ in your life and work helps you build resilience and cope with setbacks, allowing you to focus more on your progress than your failures. So, even if you managed to reply to a tricky email, ensure you give yourself a pat on the back for it.
Celebrating small wins can even trigger the release of ‘happy hormones’ like dopamine in our brains, which can help motivate us with our productivity in tackling other small, but tricky tasks.
Make time for things you enjoy after work
Just because it’s the working week doesn’t mean the bank holiday fun can’t continue. In fact, research shows that after-work activities help promote a happier and better-balanced lifestyle.
Whether it’s an evening catch up with your friends, a midweek movie with your family, or even a new hobby you want to try, keep things interesting and have activities to look forward to after your work day ends.
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