Everybody loves a vacation from work, but nobody enjoys the stress of catching up when returning from said vacation. It doesn’t have to be this way. By taking a few precautions, you can avoid ever again having to say, “I need a vacation from my vacation.”

Leave for Home Reasonably Early
Due to vacation time being so precious, it’s normal to try and squeeze in as much time away from home as possible. Often times, this means waiting until the absolute last minute to pack up and hop on the plane or point the car homeward. It’s understandable to get the most out of your vacation, however, leaving at the last minute will put undue stress on your return trip.

When you’re racing the clock to make it back home, understand that it won’t take much to derail your return trip, like a flat tire or a flight delay. Having to deal with this kind stress will leave you exhausted and frazzled when you return to the office, which completely cancels out the purpose of taking a vacation in the first place. In situations like this, leaving early and giving yourself extra time to deal with unforeseen travel issues will save yourself a big headache at work.

Slowly Take On Your Diet and Exercise Routine
Unless you’re one of those exercise nuts who actually uses the gym at the hotel, you probably take a vacation from your diet and exercise routine while on vacation. By all means, unbuckling your belt and taking a break from your disciplined routine is part of the fun of going on vacation. As comedian Jim Gaffigan puts it, “Really, that’s all a vacation is--just us eating in a place we’ve never been.”

One thing we often neglect when indulging our waistline is how difficult it will be to “get back in the swing of things.” Thinking that our bodies are unaffected by the time off, we may make the mistake of jumping fully into our exercise routine, which will result in cramps and feelings of exhaustion. Don’t be a hero. It’s much better for your body and job performance if you ease back into your exercise and diet routine.

Plan Ahead for Your Time Back to Minimize Stress
You plan like crazy for your vacation. You make detailed arrangements of where to go and what to see. Despite this, we often neglect to plan for the additional workload that awaits our return. Not being prepared for an overflowing inbox can make the first week back miserable. Here are three planning tips that will help you minimize the workload that awaits you.

• Set up an email autoresponder to automatically let the sender know that you’re out of the office and when you will be back. 
• Coordinate with your staff who will handle your responsibilities while you’re away. For example, who should be contacted for the common scenarios that you deal with every day?
• Plan on how to tackle your increased workload for when you get back. If you’re not mentally prepared for an overflowing inbox and a large stack of paperwork marked “urgent,” then you will be overwhelmed by stress. Accepting the fact that your first day back will be busy will go a long way to prevent stress.

By taking these preventive measures, you can get the most out of your vacation and not have the relaxing effects of your time off canceled by a single rough day at work. What are some ways that you’ve been successful at coming back from your vacation? Let us know in the comments.