Beat the bank holiday blues
It’s Tuesday the 1st of September. The bank holiday is over. The next one isn’t until Christmas. Just let that sink in. And although you absolutely love your job and your colleagues, you can’t help but wish you would have another day off. But the dreaded moment is here. Back to work. Here’s how to make the best of this gloomy day.
- Wake up early and exercise
Ok it doesn’t sound appealing, especially if you’re the ‘just 5 more minutes’ type. But getting up a bit earlier and going for a light jog or some easy exercise really kick-starts your day. It energises you and helps you focus.
- Try a different route to work
Variety is the spice of life. Bored of that daily commute? Mix it up a bit and take a route you haven’t tried before. You’d be surprised how much interesting things you see, that you never even knew were there. Also try and look around, instead of at your phone.
- Don’t work from home
More and more people have the luxury to work from home these days. It’s a great opportunity if you have a young family or if you need to work on a deadline without distracting colleagues. But this is the one day you shouldn’t. First of all, everyone’s been up to something this weekend and it’s great to share stories. But secondly, this is also the start of the next 4 months leading up to Christmas and it’s not unlikely there will be meetings today or this week you don’t want to miss.
- Don’t check your emails at all before lunchtime
Unless your role depends on email requests (i.e. account managers, sales managers, PA’s, etc) try and stay clear for at least the first few hours. Use this time to get tasks done you’ve been meaning to do before the weekend but never got round to. Start off with a clean slate.
- When you check your emails, reply by picking up the phone
When you do eventually check your emails, call people up instead of replying to the email. Even better, walk over an go see them. Email makes us lazy.
- Go to a nice restaurant for dinner
Extend the holiday mood by taking your partner or friends out to dinner. There’s nothing worse than having enjoyed good food & drink on the weekend, only to go back and cook your own meals. Surprise your partner and make it a date. Enjoy.
- Enjoy the 4-day work week!
Last but not least, enjoy the fact this week is 20% shorter than other weeks. The weekend is only 4 days away.
Good luck!
