5 ways to bring your holiday back to work

It’s wearing off! 
The 3-day, really really short vacation I took last week. 
But before it is relegated to just LIKES on my Instagram uploads, I’ve decided I will continue to bring back my holiday at work. And no, that does not mean I will not work…I’ve found FIVE simple ways to do it.

1. Holiday is work. Make work a holiday

We all know that planning and organizing a holiday is hard work. If anyone knows how difficult it is to plan a holiday, I do. I thought it was tough when the children were small. It gets tougher when they are older. Managing dates, schedules, even flight timings - especially if it’s not to one of the big metros in India - become a challenge. But you juggle everyone’s calendars, find dates and time and plan how to get there. That’s a lot of hard work done with oodles of enthusiasm. And now, when you are back to work, there’s an upcoming project deadline – why not apply the same formula? Juggle dates and times, sync calendars and match ETAs and ETDs with a smile on your face. Enthusiasm does make a dull day brighter. And work akin to a holiday

2. Get your schedule really right

The right schedule is a tight schedule. On a holiday? Well don’t we move to a schedule even on a holiday? Starting from something as small as putting your Out-of-Office message, packing, to making it to the airport on schedule, our life on a holiday still revolves round a clock. Go to the finest property there is and you find there are breakfast timings and lunch timings, dinner timings, pool timings, gym timings… and also time for room service. And yes… what about the ‘free relaxing 45-minute massage’ at the Spa that was included in your package? First you pre-book the appointment for that, then you make all effort to land up at the Spa at the stipulated time. Really, moving pretty much to the clock. Do it with that same smile at work and things instantly seem better. The clock remains the same, remember?

3. Make the most of it

Now this is strange. You are at work all day and you end the day having done not much or sometimes too much. Your day stretches into weeks and months in much the same manner. Flowing with the tide. But on a holiday you are on limited time. And you try to squeeze in as much as possible in the day. Sightseeing? You start early and end late. Food? You want to try all the local delicacies – even delve deeper and want to learn the recipes. You plan in advance. You stick to your plan. You stretch your day. You stretch your night. You work hard at this. This being your holiday. Did you see that? How the lines are blurring? Work-Holiday-Holiday-Work. Now backpack into work in the morning and approach it that way… and see what happens!

4. Break the routine. With another routine.

I am always planning to begin getting on to an exercise regime and somehow that fails. Predictably so. It’s usually blamed on the alarm clock, the long hours, the cats and (although quite rarely) on me! But come a holiday and I am up with the lark (literally at times) I am off to the hotel gym then energized enough to go for a swim and a bit of yoga is thrown in on the side – not to mention long walks and haughtily saying no to the golf cart transport that the hotel offers. It’s great. And that’s where the holiday comes in handy. Here’s an unmatched routine that I can bring back in my suitcase with me. The zest to work out – and finding the time to do so. If I push myself even a little I know this can be my new routine and I can be a new me! Woohoo Holiday!

5. Think fresh

So I do have an iPhone 6 and pretty much like the ad says, I take pics that scream 'Taken on an iPhone 6'. Isn’t that what a holiday is about. The brilliance of the sights and the colors that surround you? I think it’s also something to do with the perspective that lowered defenses bring to a holiday. You are no longer in the sparring stance that you are regularly in at the office. And suddenly everything is so beautiful. Look around and you still see those bright-coloured opportunities at work. Which reminds me of a time recently  when the entire floor in my office gravitated towards the windows because lo and behold… there was a rainbow in the sky! Holidays help you think fresh, look at things with a new perspective and see the world with renewed vision. Make this last. Bring it back and keep the rose-tinted glasses of your holidays on. And soon work could (at least most of the time) seem like a vacation – okay a stay-cation!

Happy Holidays at Work!