I don’t know about you but a bank holiday always throws me out of sync, even though I already work flexibly most of the time.
Tuesday feels like a Monday or you get to Wednesday and it feels like Tuesday and then before you know it, it’s Friday and you’re still playing catch-up or trying to squeeze more into the week.
You may still be in holiday mode so keep going and enjoy that extra day off but use the same approach when you get back from holiday, especially if you’re tempted to try and squeeze five days worth of work in to four ... or even three!
If you’ve yet to
take your holiday, take a day-off.
For the business entrepreneurs or working from homers, it’s tempting to just treat it like another work day, after all it’s only a bank holiday in the UK and just another work day for the rest of the world, but take the day off! Your colleagues abroad will take their
public holidays off, so should you.
BEFORE a Bank Holiday weekend
Plan your weekend in the same way you plan your week but this time, you’re planning your down-time.
Even if you don’t want to go out and about, because everyone else is doing the same thing and it's too busy, you can still plan time to relax at home, in the garden
or do something closer to home.
Make the most of the good weather, although as we know too well on a Bank Holiday it's likely to rain! Good excuse to relax with a good book for a few hours. Preferably an actual paper book to get away from screen time.
Alternatively, you have three days in which to get a few things done around the house that perhaps you don’t always have time for. There’s still time to nip down to the garden centre or DIY store to get what you need.
Check out your diary for next week NOW, so you know what’s coming up, where you need to be and what you have planned for your first day back (Tuesday). Don’t overload your first day back. Treat your Tuesday like a Monday so you have time to plan, prep and get organised.
Set your Out of Office message so clients and colleagues know you’re not checking email or phone messages.
You’ll find more tips for planning ahead around a bank holiday (or working a four-day week) READ MORE HERE
AFTER a Bank Holiday
As I mentioned, it’s often difficult to get back into the swing of things after a Bank Holiday weekend, when your normal weekly routine feels out of sync by a day.
To avoid trying to squeeze too much into four days …
- Spend a few minutes at the beginning of your first day back, to plan the week ahead. If you’re already in the habit of planning, you've already got this done.
- Take a quick check of your Inbox to make sure nothing important has come in that you need to adjust your plan for the week. Avoid taking too long to deal with it there and then. Make a note of what needs actioning and then …
- ... Add any new actions to your to-do list, planner or calendar,
however you prefer to keep track of things.
- Do you need to move any meetings or appointments, so you’re not overloading your week and trying to fit five days of work into four?
- Reprioritise any actions and check any conflicting deadlines and adjust, renegotiate if needed. Always good to do this ahead of
time, so before the bank holiday but if you've left it, do it now, before it's too late.
- Remind yourself which day it is(!) by checking your plan for the day every day, during the day.
Remember you only have a four day work week, so don’t try to cram too much in – you’ll just lose the benefit of that day off … if indeed you had a day off and didn’t end up working.
Hands up if you're likely to ignore all of this and be working on the bank
holiday?
