List: Ten ways to get back into routine after a vacation.

The wedding ended and the honey moon came and gone.

The next week, I was summoned for jury duty and then I caught a viral infection from my Mushy.

Quickly after that, my aunt passed away so we traveled upstate, NY for the services.

If these things didn’t happen all at once, life would be boring.  Right?!

Needless to say, after a month of not being able to live a normal life, I’m all out of whack.

I’m so far behind in life that I’m not sure how to catch up and get back on schedule.

My bills aren’t meticulously budgeted and my chores are a month behind.

My cubicle at work has stacks and piles of time sensitive tasks left undone.

My blog’s log of posts is empty and my class for school is literally right around the corner.

I’m not even going to mention myself.  I need an emergency hair cut and mani-pedi NOW!

Ten ways to get your life back on track.

1.  Take a deep breath and calm down.

It’s easy to panic when you see mountains of unfinished work and chores laying around.

If you go into panic mode, you’ll make mistakes and take longer to finish.

Meditate for a minute or stop and get a glass of cold water.  Once you’re calm, do step #2.

2.  Evaluate the complete situation.

Before you can begin getting back on track, you need to determine where you’re at.

Brainstorm and make a list of everything that needs to get done in all aspects of your life.

This can be overwhelming.  Stop and calm down again if you need to.  I have anxiety so I get it!

3.  Prioritize the tasks on hand.

The floors may need a good scrubbing, but it’s high priority to deposit your check and pay bills.

Rewrite your list and put the tasks in priority order.  This is especially an important step at work!

This may feel like you’re wasting time, but trust me when I say being organized really helps.

4.  Take lots and lots of breaks.

Playing catch up can be very overwhelming.  Remember it took a month to build that pile of work.

You need to eat, sleep, and take mental breaks.  It’s impossible to do everything in a day, so don’t try.

This is where I always fail, especially at work.  I may have unanswered e-mails, but I still have to pee!

5.  Communicate with the people relying on you.

Maybe you need to cancel a beach day with the girls or reschedule a meeting with your boss.

As long as you communicate and explain the situation, people aren’t going to feel let down.

Remember that everyone had to play catch up at some point in their life.  They’ll totally understand!

6.  Don’t forget about the new tasks coming in.

Getting your life back on track isn’t an excuse to ignore the new tasks coming in.

If you do this, you’ll be right back at step one.  Try and balance your time between new and old tasks.

I have unapplied checks sitting here from a month ago, but I’m still submitting the new ones coming in.

7.  Ask for help and delegate what you can.

This doesn’t mean it’s ok to dump everything on someone else.  But, it is ok to ask for help.

Maybe your spouse can do some extra chores or a friend can entertain your baby for a few hours.

These little shouts for help will really make all the difference in how long this takes you!

8.  Eliminate unnecessary distractions.

Things like your cell phone or your TV set to BRAVO can prove to be an unnecessary distraction.

If you are too busy chatting on the phone or watching TV, you’re not being productive.

My husband hates when my brain gets distracted because it happens often.  Woops!

9.  Set a reasonable date as a target goal.

If I allow myself to think that I have an indefinite amount of time to do something, it doesn’t get done.

On the other hand, if I rush to get stuff done too quick then things aren’t done correctly or completely.

A goal is always a great thing to have for mental reasons.  It helps put everything in perspective!

10.  Live your life following your normal routine.

It’s important to get back into your normal routine as quickly as possible.

This will help you feel normal.  It also will help get things done because your routine probably worked.

It always feels great to settle back into your regular schedule after a long vacation.

How do you get back into your daily routine after a long vacation?