Back to Work after Vacation - Part 2
We're looking at getting back to work after vacation from a broad perspective. Last time we attempted to re-connect the practical with the spiritual as we return to our normal daily labor. Today we'll try to provide more specific detail to help us through those first days back in the saddle after an extended break from work.
To set the stage, I'll recall how things used to be. Whenever I hit the road for vacation, I made sure my packed bags included a good serving of work items. Even when I wasn't running a small business, but was in the employ of others, I couldn't just leave work behind. Now, some of this was just practical necessity. The obligation to check in, for example, came with the territory on one particular job. The need to study for a pending test related to continuing education requirements horned in a couple of years. A client crisis that needed my particular expertise might require scheduling a call at some point. There's not much you can do to avoid these sorts of necessities. Over time, I've managed to corral these interlopers such that they were transformed from wild, prowling beasts threatening my vacation R&R into mild, manageable "To Do's" that take up a few minutes here and there.
So how did I manage to get this beast under control? Same method I use to get me through those first days back in the saddle after an extended break. It's what we talked about in the weeks after the Easter Season, before taking off for some summer vacation. Yup, it's that order combined with a healthy and robust sense of God's Presence in us that provides the stability and peace of mind to keep our ora et labora - prayer and work - humming for God's greater glory.
First let's note that even if you don't have to do or even think about anything related to work on your vacation, that doesn't mean you jettison your spiritual morning routine: prayer, study (Scripture, teachings of our Catholic religion) reading (solid spiritual works), some time alone with God (meditation). Of course, if you normally plow through your morning routine strictly out of a sense of duty, then it's natural you'd be tempted to avoid it during vacation. But in that case, you need to work on deepening your understanding of the entire point of prayer, meditation, reading, study, etc.: Don't do it to score points with God; do it because you sincerely, even desperately, want to draw closer to Him - or, as our Catechism teaches us, to know, love, and serve Him. Frankly, if do want to draw closer to God, and your morning routine helps you do this, why would you want to forsake it during vacation? If you're somehow struggling with this, perhaps a deep understanding of God's Presence in us might help. After all, once you know He's right here with you, it gets a little easier to want to know, love, and serve Him sincerely, willingly. (You can check HERE and HERE for our recent deeper discussion of God's Presence.)
Let's assume you've kept up your morning routine. There won't be any readjustment needed when you return to work. You'll naturally get that leg up on the work day that a good morning routine provides.
Okay, so now you're at work. Here's where the order you've built into your work routine kicks in. No matter how you feel, no matter how hard it might be to re-focus on the daily grind, you simply turn to that daily, weekly, monthly system you've put in place to organize your tasks, keep them prioritized, and present them to you such that you're already on top of that first task of the day with hardly any thought or effort. (You can find specifics on how I've managed this for my work HERE.) If you've yet to impose this sort of order on you work, know this: I'm not exaggerating what order on the job can do. When I returned from vacation this year - a particularly pleasant, restful and fun time, I had none of that sort of cramped anxiety the night before my first day back. I didn't feel like I had to "prepare" anything; it would all be there waiting for me, laid out in an orderly manner.
When you put things in order and develop the confidence that your system "works," you can say goodbye to what were once (for me) anxiety, even a sense of dread, as you get back to work. And with your morning spiritual routine leading the way, you'll start the day by uniting your daily work to your spiritual life. What could be better?
With all that in place, you can get back to work after vacation with a calm, even peaceful demeanor. Heck, you may even look forward to picking up those tools of the trade and getting down to the business of working for the greater glory of God.
Deo Gratias!
To set the stage, I'll recall how things used to be. Whenever I hit the road for vacation, I made sure my packed bags included a good serving of work items. Even when I wasn't running a small business, but was in the employ of others, I couldn't just leave work behind. Now, some of this was just practical necessity. The obligation to check in, for example, came with the territory on one particular job. The need to study for a pending test related to continuing education requirements horned in a couple of years. A client crisis that needed my particular expertise might require scheduling a call at some point. There's not much you can do to avoid these sorts of necessities. Over time, I've managed to corral these interlopers such that they were transformed from wild, prowling beasts threatening my vacation R&R into mild, manageable "To Do's" that take up a few minutes here and there.
So how did I manage to get this beast under control? Same method I use to get me through those first days back in the saddle after an extended break. It's what we talked about in the weeks after the Easter Season, before taking off for some summer vacation. Yup, it's that order combined with a healthy and robust sense of God's Presence in us that provides the stability and peace of mind to keep our ora et labora - prayer and work - humming for God's greater glory.
First let's note that even if you don't have to do or even think about anything related to work on your vacation, that doesn't mean you jettison your spiritual morning routine: prayer, study (Scripture, teachings of our Catholic religion) reading (solid spiritual works), some time alone with God (meditation). Of course, if you normally plow through your morning routine strictly out of a sense of duty, then it's natural you'd be tempted to avoid it during vacation. But in that case, you need to work on deepening your understanding of the entire point of prayer, meditation, reading, study, etc.: Don't do it to score points with God; do it because you sincerely, even desperately, want to draw closer to Him - or, as our Catechism teaches us, to know, love, and serve Him. Frankly, if do want to draw closer to God, and your morning routine helps you do this, why would you want to forsake it during vacation? If you're somehow struggling with this, perhaps a deep understanding of God's Presence in us might help. After all, once you know He's right here with you, it gets a little easier to want to know, love, and serve Him sincerely, willingly. (You can check HERE and HERE for our recent deeper discussion of God's Presence.)
Let's assume you've kept up your morning routine. There won't be any readjustment needed when you return to work. You'll naturally get that leg up on the work day that a good morning routine provides.
Okay, so now you're at work. Here's where the order you've built into your work routine kicks in. No matter how you feel, no matter how hard it might be to re-focus on the daily grind, you simply turn to that daily, weekly, monthly system you've put in place to organize your tasks, keep them prioritized, and present them to you such that you're already on top of that first task of the day with hardly any thought or effort. (You can find specifics on how I've managed this for my work HERE.) If you've yet to impose this sort of order on you work, know this: I'm not exaggerating what order on the job can do. When I returned from vacation this year - a particularly pleasant, restful and fun time, I had none of that sort of cramped anxiety the night before my first day back. I didn't feel like I had to "prepare" anything; it would all be there waiting for me, laid out in an orderly manner.
When you put things in order and develop the confidence that your system "works," you can say goodbye to what were once (for me) anxiety, even a sense of dread, as you get back to work. And with your morning spiritual routine leading the way, you'll start the day by uniting your daily work to your spiritual life. What could be better?
With all that in place, you can get back to work after vacation with a calm, even peaceful demeanor. Heck, you may even look forward to picking up those tools of the trade and getting down to the business of working for the greater glory of God.
Deo Gratias!
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