Reset-Routine: Regaining Focus After Taking Time Off

I just came back from a girl's trip where we traveled to New Orleans, and we had so much fun. Upon my return, I had so many people reach out and ask me, how do you build the momentum and jump right back into the speed of things without out getting exhausted, burned out, or feeling overwhelmed? So today, what I want to talk about is how you can reset your routine and pick back up after you've taken time off. Whether you're taking off time for maternity leave, whether you're taking time off for a fancy vacation, whether you're taking time off for a holiday celebration, whatever it may be, these tools are definitely going to support you.

So the first thing that you want to do is you want to give yourself grace. The biggest mistake I see people make when it comes to picking back up speed after time off, is that they often feel like they should pick up the momentum at the same speed and pace that they had before.

Even if you went on a fun vacation, you may come back a little bit exhausted or jet lagged. If you're returning from surgery or maternity leave, you may come back a little bit overwhelmed or tired (as you're still recovering), and that's okay. So you want to give yourself grace as you return. For me, I returned on a Sunday, and I made sure that I rested on Sunday and Monday before I picked up anything. I wanted to give myself an opportunity to rejuvenate, to refresh, to restore, so that I could show up in the best energy possible. Planning this and building in grace prevented me from beating myself up when I wasn't super productive.

The second thing you want to do as you're considering the first thing of providing yourself grace if you want to set a goal.

So, for example, your goal may be by the end of the week, you have your blog posts written. Or your goal may be by the end of the week, you've hosted your group coaching program session. Your goal may be by the end of the week, you have four social media posts drafted. But the point is, you want to have a goal in mind that you're focused on upon your return, but you want to have grace in mind as well. This helps you to stay focused on the target and not scatter brained.

The next thing that you want to do is you want to create a schedule around that goal, and with that schedule, you want to incorporate time for breaks. Now, I used to be a person that felt like, well, I already had a vacation, or I already had time off. I don't have time for breaks..... I just had breaks. But really, that's the quickest way to lead to resentment and lead to that burnout and overwhelm, and you don't want that. That doesn't serve anyone. So as you're thinking about your schedule, you want to keep your goal in mind as well as you want to incorporate time for that downtime. That's really giving your body that grace that you deserve.

So for me, when I returned back to my business after six weeks off for surgery leave, one of the things that I did is I incorporated naps. I knew that my body was still recovering. Therefore it wasn't realistic for me to jump back in working five to 6 hours a day. That wasn't going to be sustainable. So what I did is I set my goal and then I broke my schedule into two 2 hour days with an hour and a half map in between. This really helped me to show up in the best energy because I took care of me.

With that said, I want to move into the next step, which is to watch and monitor your inner dialogue. You will often notice that you can become your own worst critic. So you might have returned from surgery leave, or you might have returned from maternity leave, or whatever it may be and as you're returning, you begin to notice thoughts pop up like:

I'm so lazy, or
I'm so behind, or
I should have done this
Or I should not have taken so much time off.

And that inner dialogue is actually feeding your outcome. So when you're telling yourself things like the above what are you creating?

Guilt. Right? In turn, the energy that you carry, the energy that you feel is the energy that you're creating it. And it's also the energy that people are going to receive on the opposite end.

Ultimately that's not what you want. On the flip side, let's say, for example, you're like, you know what? I had such a great trip. I so deserve that. This is me stepping into my next level. So and I get to show up from my next level. You will notice that energy shift and in turn your results as well.

So watching that internal dialogue so that you're creating dialogue that's actually going to serve the success that you want to create is imperative. A lot of times what I will do is I'll identify affirmations that I want to hold tight to for that next week after coming back. So for example I will remind myself that I'm worthy, I'm successful, I'm deserving, I'm abundant, I'm productive, whatever it may be, creating affirmations that are going to help you create the outcome that you want and get you closer to that goal that you have set.

The next tip is to actually clear your space. So maybe you're coming back from vacation and you need to clean out your suitcase and put it up. Maybe you're coming back from surgery leave and you just need to hire somebody to come through and just vacuum and declutter.

It may be that you want to make sure that you're clearing your space. This is so critical and it is so imperative because research says that if you have a cluttered space, it actually is going to reflect in your mind.

If you have a cluttered space, it's actually going to cause you to have cluttered thoughts and ultimately become less productive. So for me, what I like to do is I like to think about my goals and where am I going to work as I prioritize them. Whether it's in my office, maybe it's in my bed, maybe it's at my kitchen table, whatever it may be. Where am I going to work, and how does this space reflect what I want to call in? Upon that reflection I'm then making sure that the space is free from clutter, free from chaos, and really clear so that I can focus.

The next strategy would be to do something that lights you up and contributes to your productivity. So for me, I love to move my body. I noticed that when I move my body, I actually get into a more calm and creative space. For me a lot of times when I come back from a break, I try to move my body in creative ways that may look like yoga, that may look like just going on a walk. That helps me to get lit up, helps me to get in really good energy, getting into aligned energy so that I can attract the things that I want.

I have a client of mine who loves taking really long showers, and that lights her up, and that gets her in a really focused state to determine what's going to feed and nourish your energy so that you can show up in the right energy and then commit to doing that.

Finally, the last strategy that I have in place for you is to take action. You could do all of these steps, but if you just sit there and check off each idea, but don't take action you will be stuck in the same place. When you turn the faucet on, the water flows. Once you turn the action on, the momentum flows as well.

So ask yourself, what is that next step that you can take that will support you with getting to where you need to be? Now, I want to add a caveat. It doesn't have to be some massive leap or some huge step because the truth is small, seemingly meaningless steps add up to create massive results. So a question that I love to ask myself is, what is the decision I can make today that my future self will thank me for? I then commit to taking action in that direction.

Here's the reality. You cannot pour from an empty cup, and I'm a firm believer that you must fill your cup up and allow other people to reap from your overflow.

But that can't happen if you've convinced yourself that burnout, exhaustion, overworking, and all of these things are normal. It is imperative to take time off for yourself, whether it's maternity leave, a vacation, or healing your body after after sick or surgery leave. So don't allow yourself to feel guilty from it, but understand that you get to show up even better upon your return. So those are the strategies that I wanted to share with you today that will support you at coming back stronger than you were even before.

Also if you're looking for more support for when you return, and you want to be able to save yourself more time, you want to be able to incorporate more rest into your routine, I have just the thing for you inside my workshop called Repurpose and Relax. I teach you how to take content that you already have, repurpose it so that you can relax. Trust me when I tell you it's truly life changing. Check it out, and I look forward to seeing you there: https://www.nicolyawilliams.com/repurpose-and-relax