It’s January – it’s dark, gloomy, cold and, perhaps most daunting of all, you’re back to work after Christmas. Getting back into the swing of things can be tricky, after all, the festive period tends to eliminate any kind of routine that you’d managed to develop over the preceding months. However, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom; here are just a few helpful tips that you can use to boost morale and beat the back to work blues as you return to work.
Declutter your workspace
If you left your workspace in a mess before leaving for Christmas, starting your return with a bit of organisation can be the perfect way to set yourself up for success and beat the back to work blues. Whether it’s tidying up that cluttered desk space, or clearing out your overflowing email inbox, decluttering is the perfect way to make sure you get back to work after Christmas the right way. Sort through that endless pile of paper on your desk, clear out the clutter from your drawers and wash up that mug that’s still there from December – after all, a tidy space is a tidy mind.
Set goals and plan ahead
As you return back to work after Christmas, it’s important to reflect on your work in the previous year and set yourself ambitious, though realistic, goals to aim for this upcoming year. Write down these goals and hold yourself to account in achieving them. Perhaps there’s an area of your work you felt you struggled in last year? Breaking this down into manageable plans will help you work on this and gives you a strategy to do better this year. The feeling of reward and accomplishment when you finally achieve these goals will surely help you beat the back to work blues.
Need somewhere to map out your plans? We recommend using a project planning tool like Trello, Asana or Monday. Though similar, each have their own features, so do some research to find out which works for you.
Start at a coworking space
Working from home can be great but getting away from the same four walls you spent the entire festive period inside can do wonders to improve your productivity.
Adding structure to your day, using a coworking space can be the perfect motivation to get off that sofa and beat the back to work blues. We might be a little biased, but coworking spaces offer a great sense of community, allowing you to network and work alongside like-minded people that may spark the creative boost that you need to achieve your goals.
Forward has the perfect coworking spaces to achieve this; with locations across the South West, in Bristol, Frome and Taunton, beat the back to work blues by joining one of communities. Prices start from as little as £4 p/h, so whether it’s just a day a week, or full-time coworking, our spaces can help you get out of the home-working slump.
Don’t overload yourself
It can be easy to want to dive straight back in headfirst as you return back to work after Christmas, but this is often counterproductive. Those reports are due soon and that email inbox is growing longer by the second, but sometimes it’s important to sit back and just take a breather. Getting your head together and building back your working motivation will allow you to be so much more productive when you eventually come to tackle these tasks.
Give yourself something to look forward to
Whether it’s a few drinks with a co-worker at the end of the week, or that big summer holiday you’ve been dreaming of, giving yourself something to look forward to will really help you knuckle down again as you return back to work after the holidays. Work can be tough, the day-to-day grind is often a slog, but having something in your diary that you’re looking forward to should help to ease you back in and motivate you in the coming weeks.
There you have it – our best tips to beat the back to work blues. Going back to work after the holidays can be tough, but following these tips will surely help you get back into the swing of things and be at your best this upcoming year. Here at Forward, we want to empower workers with the resources they need to forge their own paths in business. Aiming to inspire, we offer a number of co-working spaces across the South West, all designed from scratch with their own unique identities to suit their location and market. To ease the return back to work after Christmas, join one of our coworking spaces and spark the productivity you need in 2023.
