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Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio.
Good morning.
This is Laura.
Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Today's tip is that if you are planning to step away from your job for a while, such as for a leave or even just for a longer vacation, make a plan for how you will reenter.
This will make life feel more calm and productive for you and for everyone you work with.
Today's tip comes from Lorena Yee.
Lorena is a senior partner at McKinsey and the co-author of the book The Broken Rung when the career ladder fails for women and how they can succeed in spite of it.
Lorena was recently a guest on my other podcast, Best of Both Worlds.
When I interviewed her for Best of Both Worlds, Lorena offered what I think is wise advice for people preparing for a parental or other extended leave.
She advised that they pack a round-trip ticket.
I love that metaphor.
Most of the time, we don't buy a plane ticket to another city without having a plan for how we're going to get home.
You should take the same care with planning for any leave from your job.
You probably make a plan for how you'll transition out, so make sure you also make a plan for how you will transition back in.
Lorena pointed out that people I mean at least the sort of folks who listen to my podcasts are often very responsible about preparing for leaves.
They make sure all their projects will be covered effectively in their absence.
And they tell their colleagues everything they need to know to avoid mishaps while they are out.
This is wise.
You don't want stress or drama.
And you don't want your colleagues and clients to be in a bad place while you are gone.
But Lorena points out that people also need to think through what their return trip will look like.
She says it's important to be intentional about your re-entry before your leave even begins.
When you are preparing to leave, you will brief key colleagues on the status of your projects and the people involved in them.
You may even write up notes.
So, on your return, how will you get up to speed on what happened in your absence?
Will anybody be writing notes for you?
You probably wrapped up major projects before you began your leave and provided instructions about your other projects and priorities.
How will you identify the top priorities you need to focus on as soon as you return?
You communicated with your colleagues and maybe clients or customers, to let them know about your leave.
How will you reconnect with the people you work with and resume your work together when you get back?
In addition to thinking through how you will address the tasks associated with your return, also realize that it just takes time to pick back up after an extended leave.
So be realistic and block time those first couple of days or even weeks for re-entry activities.
Planning for the return trip is essential for an extended leave, but even for shorter vacations it pays to pack a round-trip ticket for yourself.
I suggest blocking as much as possible of the first day back from meetings, except maybe a meeting with your assistant or your boss to understand what happened when you were gone.
This will give you time to get caught up on what happened and set priorities for the week ahead.
It's helpful to pack a round trip ticket on the personal front too.
Be sure you have groceries and clean clothes for your first days back.
Schedule time as needed for laundry or cleaning the house or grocery shopping or processing mail.
Even if you don't usually use grocery delivery or a lawn service or a cleaning service, that might be helpful right after time away.
When you prepare for your re-entry, professionally and personally, whether after vacation or an extended leave, you avoid the stress that can happen if you re-enter without much thought.
You set yourself up for success.
And that is a good thing.
How have you planned for successful returns after maternity leaves, sabbaticals or vacations?
And to listen to my interview with Lorena Yee, go to my website lauravandercamcom and search on broken rung.
In the meantime, this is Laura.
Thanks for listening.
And here's to making the most of our time.
Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
If you've got questions, ideas or feedback, you can reach me Before.
Breakfast is a production of iHeart Media.
For more podcasts from iHeart Media, please visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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