The hardest part of the holidays? Going back to work.
The alarm clock. The traffic. The piles of papers greeting you, the ones left on your desk as you scrambled out the door for the holidays. The thousands of emails that somehow filled your inbox while everyone was supposed to be on vacation.
Doesn’t anyone understand what “vacation” means anymore?
Going back to work is grueling for all of us but can be particularly difficult for those of us who work from home. We have nowhere to escape to; no colleagues to commiserate with now that the holidays are over and it’s back to the ol’ grind.
Once again the separation of Home and Work becomes blurred. Especially if we have yet to de-decorate and our home still “feels” like Christmas. What we face is that holiday ho-hum feeling that seeps into our work space.
I will share the situation I faced, which is probably similar to many who work from home:
- Leftover holiday treats called out to me from the kitchen, tempting me to walk away from my work.
- Empty gift boxes were stacked in the living room that needed to go to the trash.
- The Christmas DVD’s were still on the coffee table from recent viewing.
- And the tree! It was still up, decorated, in all its glory.
Not to mention the outside décor. Even though I rarely venture out to the front of the house, I knew it was there.
Situations like this call for tough love. Here are four things people who work from home should do to get back in the groove after the holidays:
Take down the tree.
This is the most time consuming, yet the most rewarding and best way to feel like Christmas has left the building. I put it off yet once I got started it only took me an hour to remove the ornaments and pack them away. Yes, we like to think a lighted tree can be considered a “desk lamp” but it really is a distraction. Do. It. Now.
Remove All Remaining Holiday Décor.
While you’ve got the spirit, go ahead and box up the rest of the holiday décor. This seemed daunting to me, yet again took only another hour once I started. Move all of the boxes back to their storage place – or at least to another room where you can’t see them.
Put the holiday cards in a box.
These tempt me to stop working and re-read them, so “out of sight, out of mind”. Note that I didn’t say “trash them” – unless of course you have already reviewed them and noted address changes. I haven’t done that, so I put mine in a box for later review – I do that while watching mindless TV like “The Bachelor”. But they are out of sight for now.
Hide the Christmas candy and treats.
The treats call to me when I’m working and distract me. I have to be tough and throw out the items that I really don’t need, like or want to eat. For example, the caramel corn from the treat tower – we still had last year’s package so my guess is we are not going to eat this year’s. The rest is hidden from view in the pantry. It’s better for my waistline and my productivity.
Total time spent: Less than three hours. That’s one morning – or less, depending on how early you start.
What are you waiting for? Get started now so the rest of your week is productive!
Besides, Valentine’s Day will be here before you know it.
Like Tami, I was terminated once (By my best friend, BTW – he is now on the board of the agency I lead, so I got him back – ha!), but you don’t have to be unemployed to learn something from this book. 
No Comments
Be the first to start a conversation