Let’s talk about going on a trip or vacation! I know even though we are in the midst of a pandemic and vacations don't quite look like what they used to, a lot of us are still looking for creative ways as the weather is warming up to maybe spring break or a little family outing.

No one can resist a trip that will save you from the daily stress, am I right? 

Life gets crazy and we all deserve the break from time to time.

I have finally instituted one small trick that has made a WORLD of difference.  

For years, every time I went on vacation with my family,  it always took me a couple of days to fully relax. Why? 

Because of the stress of getting everything situated and organized to get us out the door, usually on day one, I was just irritable while trying to recover from that. Then, on the flip side, as soon as we were home, I was asking myself if the vacation was even worth it! The lists of things to do and catch up on would instantly zap the joy from the trip.

The first thing that I always do pre-trip is to block my calendar the day before our trip to prevent me from scheduling meetings, appointments, etc.  This allows me to spend the day prepping and leaving everything in a “closed” state before our trip. 

Even if it's just a half-day or 3 hours, try and block your calendar so that people aren't booking meetings with you at four-thirty in the afternoon the day before your trip.

Then, the next thing I recommend is to block off your calendar for the first day back from an extended trip or a vacation. 

This day will be used to get through the hundreds or even thousands of emails, household stuff, unpack, get food in the house again, etc. There is nothing worse than coming home and jumping into a completely booked calendar the first day back.

This may sound so ridiculously simple but I can't stress enough how life-changing it is. 

When you create the space and room to prep for a trip and then reserve a day when you come back to help get caught up, it makes an enormous difference.

Please follow me on Facebook and Instagram at Megan Sumrell for getting on top of all things, time management, organization, and productivity. You can also go to theworklifeharmony.com and grab my free ditch the overwhelm cheat sheet!