On the Job by Anita Bruzzese The First Thing to Tackle After a Vacation

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese The First Thing to Tackle After a Vacation In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of spending some time thinking (while on vacation) about whether you're in the right job or right career. Maybe after some soul-searching you've decided you like the job or the career is just fine -- but you do wish you could make some minor adjustments. Perhaps you realize that you hate working late almost every day so that you miss playing ball with your kids in the yard or having a nice dinner out with friends. That, you may discover, has led to resentment of co-workers who leave every day on time. Or, you may decide your boss is an a**hole because she doesn't recognize your hard work. But do you see how you've have let this situation snowball? Instead of dealing with the real problem -- you procrastinate beginning your work every morning -- you instead blame others. That makes you resent your job, your colleagues, your boss and the whole darn world. Why is everyone else not working 12-hour days? Why isn't everyone missing time with family and friends? Once you've pinpointed the real problem to your job unhappiness, it's time to make a commitment to changing your ways. You can begin, for example, by creating a new schedule for yourself that will eliminate your procrastination every morning. It might mean waking up 30 minutes earlier so you can check Facebook instead of doing it at work. Or, maybe you go into work early so that you have quiet time to get started on your work and aren't tempted to chat in the break room for an hour. Make a commitment to change your ways when you return from vacation. Write down a new schedule and try to stick to it religiously for the first week or two until it becomes ingrained. While this may not solve all your problems, sometimes just seizing the initiative to be happier in your job can put a whole new spin on things.