5 Easy Tips to Get Back On Track After Vacation
Summer vacation is over and you’re now wondering “How can I get my life back on track?” – No panic, you’re not the only one! 😉
After indulging in days of good food, great company, and total relaxation…the reality hits you: it’s time to get back to your (boring) routine!
Maybe you realize that you’ll soon have to get back to your regular life even a couple of days before your vacation is over – and so ruining all the fun -, or perhaps the reality hits you hard only once you get back home…
The truth is that, if you have a good come-back plan to reset your life post-summer, you will avoid:
- Feeling overwhelmed
- Dreading your routine
- Wasting precious time
- Lots of panicking
It all sounds great – but how can you do that?
Luckily for you, in this article, I’m going to share the 5 essential tips you must know to get back on track after vacation!
So, are you ready to get back into a routine without feeling overwhelmed? Then, let’s get started!
DISCLAIMER: I will receive a small commission – which won’t affect your final price – on the mentioned products. I am only promoting products that I consider valuable and beneficial. If you decide to make any purchase, well…thank you for buying me a cup of coffee today! Xx
How Long Does It Take to Get Your Life Back On Track Post-Vacation?
Although many studies were conducted on this topic, there isn’t an exact and clear answer on how long it takes to form new habits.
Research published in the European Journal of Social Psychology suggests that it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days for a behavior to become automatic – with an average of 66 days.
It’s clear that, since we all tend to give up on all our good habits while vacationing, it’s quite normal to feel overwhelmed at the thought of having to restart all over again.
Is there a way to avoid feeling like you’re crawling back to ground zero?
How can you get back on track with your healthy habits and – this time – stick with them for good?
5 Tips for Getting Back Into a Routine Post-Traveling
Here are the 5 tips that I’ve personally tried and have helped me the most in easing back into a routine after the holidays:
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Start From Your ‘Why’
First of all, you need to get clear on your ‘why’.
Whenever you decide to take on a new goal, dream, or project, there must be a clear and meaningful ‘why’ behind it.
Without having a vision, how can you expect to push through when things get hard? Because yes, it’s too easy to set unrealistic goals when the motivation is high – but what happens when that first boost of motivation suddenly wears off?
So, before developing your action plan to get back on track after vacation – do this: state your why!
For example:
- “I want to grow my blog traffic” – Why? → To reach financial freedom
- “I want to learn Indonesian” – Why? → Because I will travel to Bali and want to be able to speak with the locals
- “I want to have more time in the day” – Why? → To be more productive and make more progress with my side hustle
Only you can know your ‘why’.
And…if you can’t find why you want to do something – why are you still wasting your time reaching a goal that doesn’t even matter to you?
Set an Achievable Goal
Perfect, so now you’ve got a vision! What’s next?
You can use your vision – or why – to set an achievable and realistic goal.
“A goal without a plan is just a wish.”
– Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
A case study conducted by the Dominican University of California revealed that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them.
So, if the simple act of coming up with a goal and writing it down can increase your likelihood of success – why not take the chances?
Since you’re coming back after summer vacation, an achievable goal is one that can be accomplished within a 3 to 6-month timeframe.
So, my question for you is:
“What can you accomplish by the end of the year?”
It’s a simple yet powerful question you can ask yourself to avoid wasting the next 6 months of your life thinking “Whatever, it’s now too late to change my life this year”.
Because the truth is that: any day is a good day to change your life!
In case you’re not familiar with “The Fresh Start Effect” – which is the boost of motivation you get at the start of a new year -, you must know that there are other dates on the calendar that give you the same boost.
And September, with the whole “getting back into a routine after vacationing”, is one of them!
So, what are you waiting for? Don’t waste another day waiting to hit the reset button on your life!
Coming back to the examples above, some goals you could set are:
- “I want to get 10,000 monthly pageviews by the end of the year”
- “I want to get a B2 certification in Indonesian”
- “I want to start waking up at 6 AM every day”
Break Your Goal Down Into Daily Actions
Let’s do a quick recap:
- You have your vision, which is the ‘why’ behind what you want to accomplish
- You have a goal, which is what you hope to achieve by the end of the year
Now, you have only to create your path to go from where you are to where you want to be.
What’s in between you and your goal? And, most importantly, what steps do you need to take to get there?
Whether you achieve your goal or not, it’s NOT only a matter of discipline, motivation, or luck.
It’s not the intentions you have to determine whether you succeed or not – it’s the actions you take!
So, how can you break down your big goal into small actions you can take daily?
Here are some examples connected to the goals above:
- “I will promote my blog daily by sharing a new pin, posting a story on Instagram, and reaching out to a blogger every day”
- “I will learn Indonesian for 30 minutes every day”
- “I will wake up 90 minutes earlier than usual to work on my side hustle without interruptions”
Schedule It In Your Calendar
Be honest with me: we all know that you can have the best intentions but, if you don’t make time for your goals by putting them in your calendar, you won’t get anywhere closer to achieving them!
So, it’s time to grab your planner and a pen and start planning!
When are you going to accomplish the daily action(s) that will get you closer to your goal?
While planning, you need to take into account:
- How much time you actually have available
- The activities you engage in that are a total waste of time
- What part of the day you feel the most energetic
- Other responsibilities and obligations that fill up your schedule
- Any setback you might encounter
Considering the examples above, you could schedule your daily actions in your calendar by committing to:
- “Publish a new pin as soon as you wake up. Post on Instagram during your lunch break. Send an email to a fellow blogger every night before tucking yourself into bed”
- “Learn Indonesian for 30 minutes every morning, after breakfast”
- “Sticking to the 90/90/1 rule to make progress with your side hustle”
You can make it happen – you only need to put it on your agenda first! 😉
Prioritize Progress Over Perfection
Finally, the last step to get back on track with your goals after vacation is to keep this in mind: progress over perfection!
The easiest way to feel super overwhelmed after coming back from your relaxing holidays is to want to do it all – and all perfectly!
But…rarely life goes as planned.
The most common mistakes people make when setting new goals are:
- Setting too-ambitious goals
- Overestimating their time, resources, or themselves
- Relying too much on self-discipline
- Striving for perfection
- Not planning for setbacks
You cannot expect to go from 0 to 100 overnight – meaning that you cannot ask yourself to go from “super chill mode” to “highly-productive superhuman”.
When you’ll be so close to giving it all up, I want you to remind yourself this:
Small progress is better than none!
So, if today you manage only to reach out to a new blogger but not be active on social, it’s enough.
If today you have time to learn Indonesian only for 15 minutes, do it. 15 minutes is better than 0 minutes.
And, if today you can’t work on your side hustle for the full one hour and a half as soon as you get up – break it down into chunks: work on it for 30 minutes in the morning, 30 minutes at lunchtime, and 30 minutes in the evening.
Don’t strive for perfection. Commit to daily progress. That’s more than enough.
Trust me: progress will have you accomplish more than striving for perfection will ever do.
Free Goal Action Template
If you want to set yourself up for success when getting back on track after vacation, you need to take into account that: not everything will go as planned!
Don’t let this discourage you, though. Use it as a reminder that, if you want to achieve your goals for real, you also need to consider:
- Those days in which you’ll have low-energy
- When your procrastination kicks in
- Your negative thoughts trying to hold you back from change
- The obstacles and setbacks you’ll face along the journey
All of the above are part of the process! While you’d love to skip them, you can’t. But, you know what you can do?
You can best prepare yourself to face those challenges by grabbing this FREE “Goal Action Planner”:
Let me help you achieve your goals! 😉
Final Words on How to Get Back on Track After Vacation
That’s all for me today!
I hope you’re gentle with yourself as you transition back to your life and routine after summer vacation.
In case no one told you and you need a little reminder: I believe in you! You have what it takes to make your dreams come true! You’ve got this!
Q: “What’s the goal you want to accomplish by the end of the year?” – Let me know in a comment! 🙂
Until next time,
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