There will come a time in our lives when we are forced to take time off from our businesses. For me, this recently looked like a hurricane. For you, it can be another type of emergency that forces you to stop working.
I recently lost about a week of work due to circumstances outside of my control. While the storm itself was only a couple of days, the power and internet situation was another mess. Additionally, I was exhausted from the whole ordeal. Needless to say, getting back in the groove after forced time off was difficult.
However, I did find some strategies that helped me return back to work after forced time off. Feel free to experiment with them the next time you find yourself in a similar situation.
Start very small.
Although my apartment didn’t have access to internet a few days after a hurricane, my coworking space up the street did. Since the roads were mostly clear, I decided to get out and see if I could get something done.
At this point, I was exhausted and my brain power was limited. My clients all knew what the situation was in Florida and I made it clear I wouldn’t be back to business as usual until power and internet were fully restored. Since no one was expecting me to be back at the office, I started small.
Starting small for me looked like delegating things to my assistant. It also looked like figuring out my schedule after forced time off. These things are tiny and didn’t take much brain effort so I could at least feel like I was doing something.
Start with what you enjoy most.
I have personally found that working on the things I love helps me get back to work after time off. This time around, it looked like writing blog content addressing some concerns from readers.
Because of the storm, my blog schedule got kind of messed up. Additionally, I kept getting questions about the hurricane and about the Equifax breach.
Since I love writing content for my own blog, I decided to start there. After all, these things needed to get done anyway. I also truly enjoy writing to my readers. As a result, I got two very important blog posts done in a couple of hours.
Change your scenery.
By the end of the weekend, power and internet were mostly restored in my area. I was also fully rested after a crazy week so I decided to head to a nearby Starbucks to start working after some time off.
I don’t usually work from a Starbucks, but my gut was telling me I needed a change of scenery. And you know what? I had one of the most productive days I’ve had in over a month.
Final Thoughts
While it’s not easy to get back to work after forced time off, it is possible to get your groove back. The key is to remember that your groove isn’t gone forever and you need to ease into work.
