Be honest, when your alarm went off this morning you reached across to hit the snooze button didn’t you?
How many times, though? Once, twice…five times?
After realising you could put it off no longer you dragged yourself out of bed, put the kettle on, had a shower, got yourself looking reasonable and headed off to your first day at work for 2016. It is a pattern millions of us have done following an extended holiday (for those lucky enough to have one!)
So, you are now sat at your desk, going through the hundreds of e-mails you missed while you were consuming vast amounts of calories and toasting the past 12 months. You’ve had several coffees and spoke to your colleagues about your exploits over the past few weeks. And on every desk a shiny new diary sits alongside a bottle of water and thoughts of a detox plan going on in your head – as well as how you plan to survive your first week back – and how long it’s going to last.
At Happy, we held our usual Monday Morning Meeting and once the festive chatter was out of the way we hit the ground running with some positive news to start the year from clients and colleagues. An hour later we are raring to go, cracking on with jobs and looking to the future.
And that’s just it. Yes, the first-day-back-syndrome is one we must all face, but it’s how you face it that counts. Here’s some Happy tips for that first week back:
- Get stuck in! There’s no point wallowing in the past few weeks. You’ve used your time wisely (hopefully) to reflect and get away from the stresses of the workplace. Recharged or not, it’s time to get going again and achieve.
- Plan, plan, plan – You’ve goals to achieve so why not plan your year ahead? Spend your time looking at that new diary and set yourself tasks to achieve.
- Motivate yourself (and others) – The first day back is usually a grim prospect for all staff so why not motivate them. We are not talking speeches here, just some words of encouragement to get them through the first few days. And, if you are allowed, get some tunes on!
- Make predictions – No-one knows what the next 12 months holds so why not write down some of your hopes and open them before you break up for Christmas, it’ll be here sooner than you know!
- Smile – There’s no point looking glum, you’ve had fun but now it’s time to put a happy face on and look forward to a great year with new opportunities and challenges.
Happy New Year from everyone at Happy Creative!
Nick Hyde is PR & Content Manager at Happy Creative, a full service marketing and creative agency based in Blackpool, Lancashire. To learn more or contact us please go to www.happy-creative.co.uk
