Back to work

It's always hard to snap back into work mode after a blissful break. But you can do plenty to stave off the back-to-work blues - even right now.

* Leave the cellphone at home while on holiday, or if you must have it handy for work, have it divert instantly to the message service so you can screen calls. And be ruthless about screening them.

If something can wait until your return, don't give in to colleagues' over-anxious blandishments.

A survey of 218 people last week by recruitment company TMP Worldwide found 51 per cent of them take a mobile phone or laptop computer with them on holiday so they can be contacted for work. Buck the trend.

* Don't take any work on holiday. Don't read any trade publications or check e-mail while away. You need a complete mental break.

* Make sure you don't cram too much into your time off, or you'll arrive back at work feeling as if you need another holiday, or just as run-down as when you left.

Snooze a lot, eat well, don't go overboard on food and booze and say no to things you don't want to do.

* Try to arrive back home the Friday before, say, a Monday restart for the new year. Then you have time to unpack and unwind before you head back to the office.

* Have a mini-holiday - say, a four-day break away - in mind for a month or so down the track as soon as you get back to work.

* Don't overdo it on your first day back. Don't schedule anything important for the first few days - that will send your stress levels rocketing.

You'll need time on the first day back to clear e-mail and telephone messages and get a general sense of what has been going on in your absence.

* Acknowledge that it's normal to feel a bit scratchy when settling back into the office. It may be small consolation, but everyone else will be feeling the same.