Best practices for handling inbox after a break

How do you transition back to work from vacation? Every time I return from vacation my email is flooded and my calendar is packed. It can feel overwhelming. Good news is that I’ve been figuring out my strategy over the years and I no longer stress about the ‘re-entry’. Here’s my process: First I triage my inbox. Use tech to your advantage, focus on what matters and clear out the noise. 🎯 Prioritize. Use filters to group messages by sender, subject, or project and identify emails from leadership, key stakeholders, and team members first. 🎯 Delete unnecessary emails. Skip the backlog of newsletters and other ‘nice to read’ messages. Also skip any threads where decisions were made without you. Those updates will come through team and project meetings as you reconnect. 🎯 Two minute rule. My favorite. Any email with a quick response or action, I knock out. For more complex emails, I flag them for later and group them into calendar time blocks for follow-up. Now I do a calendar review. Get a quick and clear picture of the day and week ahead. I do this review before I leave on vacation to ensure the first days back are focused. I do it again the first day back (within the first hour), and make any required changes. 🎯 Critical meetings. Look for meetings that need preparation and prioritize them. At the same time look for meetings where agendas have not been shared, reprioritize. 🎯 Block time for catch ups. Treat this time as a meeting with yourself and protect it. Schedule blocks for email, catch up with your team, to review project updates, and handle urgent items. I schedule these blocks on my last day before vacation so I’m set up for success when I come back. 🎯 Say NO. Cancel or decline non-essential commitments. It’s okay to say no to meetings that aren’t a high priority, especially in the first few days back. Now I reassess my week and perhaps reprioritize. What needs immediate attention? Have deadlines changed? Any new goals? A crisis? Understand current state and time block for critical path items and high impact work. How do you manage work when you come back from vacation? Please share your tips in the comments so we can all drop the stress in returning to work post vacation.

The post-vacation overwhelm is real, and it's getting worse 📱 As many of us return from extended summer breaks, we're having an interesting conversation internally about "notification bankruptcy" - that moment when you come back to hundreds (or thousands) of messages and feel completely overwhelmed, and you consider nuking the inbox 🙅🏻♂️ This challenge is particularly serious for companies like Doist that collaborate primarily through chat tools and async communication. The very systems that give us flexibility at work also create this crushing wall of information when we return from time off. Here's what makes it so painful for me: - Everything feels "urgent" when you're catching up - You lack context on conversations that evolved while you were away - The fear of missing something important keeps you scrolling endlessly - Wasted time reading comms that have already been solved or are no longer relevant - It can take days just to get back to a baseline, much less move forward We're exploring several approaches to minimize this pain internally, sharing in case it's useful for others out there: - Notification bankruptcy - Encouraging marking all or at least large chunks of comms as read and trusting that truly important items will resurface. Only read @mentions and direct messages. - Structured triage - Dedicate specific time blocks to different message types. Start with DMs, then recent squad/team updates, then general channels. Set time limits to avoid rabbit holes and add long threads as tasks for later dates. - Email deletion strategy - Set an auto-reply saying you'll delete all emails when you return, so people should follow up after your return date if still relevant. Side note - I've been doing this for many years and have found most issues resolve themselves during your absence. - Temporary delegation with handoff projects - Create a centralized Todoist project where covering team members add (only) critical updates and decisions that need your attention (with links and context, very important!). Much more focused than scrolling through hundreds of messages. - Selective catch-up calls - Cancel all non-essential calls during your return week and schedule brief syncs with key team members to get updates on complex situations. The reality is that most of the "urgent" stuff from while you were away either got resolved without you or isn't actually urgent anymore, and very likely, your absence created an opportunity for another teammate to step into that space and grow from it. We tend to think we have to read and reply to everything, but declaring bankruptcy might actually be doing your team (and yourself) a service. I'd love to know how others are dealing with the post-vacation message flood, and any strategies that have worked (or failed) for your team? Always looking for better approaches to this modern workplace challenge 🤝 **Photo of Koda monitoring my approach to post-vacay inbox management 🐶

Had a conversation about being a zero-inboxer, and thought I'd share my strategies for maintaining a "zero" inbox. 1. "Zero" means non-scrollable inbox. There's no way I'll ever have a truly empty inbox. 2. Treat emails left in the inbox as a todo list. These should be relatively quick hit items that you can get to when you have a bit of free time. 3. If something will take longer than 15 minutes, schedule a blocker on your calendar with the title of the email, and archive the email. When the calendar item comes up, go find the email, and complete the task. (Some systems will let you turn emails into calendar items - do that if possible.) 4. Don't end the day with a scrollable inbox. If it's still scrollable, make calendar items and archive. 5. Once it's done, archive it (don't delete). Be done with it. Let the archive be your knowledge base. 6. Create rules to tuck away any emails which are things you may need to reference later but aren't actually important on a day-to-day basis (like many emails from DLs). 7. Minimal folders. Really. I find folders just make it harder to find emails, and then I need to make decisions on which folder I should put an item into. I used to do "virtual" folders (ones based on search), but found they didn't really help. Which leads me to... 8. Become good at search. It's much easier to craft a search string than it is to poke around at which folder might have an email. 9. Archive old emails after returning from a break lasting longer than a week. (I've talked about this in the past) 10. Don't be afraid to declare email bankruptcy. If you have 1,500 emails in your inbox, it's time to admit you're never going to get to them. Archive them and start fresh. You'll literally never dig out of a hole like that. If it's really important, they'll email again. And if they haven't, and it's been more than 3 weeks, I think everyone has already admitted the task involved in the email (even if it's just replying) isn't happening and has moved on.

How do you reset at work after a break or quieter summer period? #HolidayMode #LinkedInNewsEurope 💣 For the past 35 years, I have found that resetting at work after the holidays can be a challenge. I follow the below steps, it helps me transition back smoothly and productively. I hope you will find this helpful: 💥 Plan Your Return – you should not go on vacation without planning your first week after holidays: Do not think that coming back you will hit the ground running. Accept that the first few days back might be slower as you get back into your rhythm. I always leave with my desk clean and ready for when I come back. So before you get back into your major projects, ensure your digital workspace is ready for it. 💥 Review and Prioritize Tasks – I call it the ABC of resetting – the Always Be Coordinated tasks: If you are like me, when you come back you have hundreds (maybe thousands) of emails waiting for you. Scan through your inbox for any urgent messages, but don’t try to respond to everything at once. Focus on those that need immediate attention. I write down (or use apps) to list out tasks that need to be tackled, prioritizing them based on deadlines and importance. Regularly I use post its and delete items once they have been done (it feels very good!). 💥 Set Realistic Goals – as mentioned in the first point, do not hit the ground running, be prepared: Instead of diving into big projects, break them down into smaller, manageable tasks to avoid feeling overwhelmed. Set Short-Term Goals: Set a few achievable goals for your first week back to build momentum, get your confidence back and your head screwed on properly. 💥 Re-establish Your Routine: Get back into your regular work routine, but be flexible as you readjust. Allow yourself short breaks to ease back into work, especially after periods of intense focus. Tell your team(s) about your vacation, feel the good it has done to you! 💥 Reconnect with Colleagues: Spend some time reconnecting with colleagues, catching up on what happened while you were away. Engage in collaborative work or meetings early on to re-establish a sense of teamwork. 💥 Focus on Well-being: I maintain good habits, such as eating well and staying hydrated, to support my energy levels. Have a read at the work I did with the Harvard Business Review: https://lnkd.in/d2Bq4PHX I take moments to breathe deeply, meditate, or simply reflect to manage any stress associated with returning to work. It would be too bad that after 2,3 or 4 weeks away you have not taken any good out of it. 💥 Reflect and Adjust: At the end of your first week back, evaluate how you’ve managed the transition & adjust your strategies as needed. This will make you feel great as you will notice that you are more productive because you have taken that time off. I hope my experience has helped. This is something that I put in place as in Europe we have longer vacation time and coming back is a challenge.

I just returned from a week of unplugging in beautiful Central Oregon, where I enjoyed the perfect weather, played golf, and read a few books while I lounged poolside. I feel incredibly blessed to work for a company with a flexible PTO policy that truly encourages employees to take time off to recharge. ☀️ We often hear about how to prepare for time off, but the challenge of transitioning back to work after PTO is rarely discussed. ➡️ Here are some of my strategies to ease back into the workflow while maintaining that refreshed and rejuvenated feeling: 📸 Make it Fun: Upon returning from PTO, I send a note to all my customers and key team members to let them know I’m back. I share a few photos (see attached) and highlights from my trip, and ask if there’s anything immediate they need my help with. Sharing photos is a fantastic way to build relationships—plus, it encourages others to share their own highlights when they return from PTO! 📧 Block Time: Reserve the first hour of your return day to catch up on emails. Having this dedicated time allows me to sort through my inbox, prioritize tasks, and address any urgent matters without feeling rushed. I'm happy to report my inbox wasn't nearly as scary as I had thought it would be! 📅 Review Your Calendar: Check your upcoming meetings and deadlines as soon as you’re back. Make any necessary adjustments to ensure you have enough time to catch up and prepare adequately. A team member had scheduled a meeting with me before I had fully caught up. I asked if we could shift slightly and he was more than happy to accommodate. It never hurts to ask! ✅ Prioritize and Delegate: Before diving into tasks, take a few moments to assess what needs immediate attention and what can wait. Delegate tasks that others can handle, so you can focus on what's most critical. ☕ Reconnect with Your Team: Spend some time catching up with your team members. This can be a quick coffee chat or a team meeting where everyone shares updates. It helps re-establish connections and ensures you're up to speed on any changes. I'd love to hear from you! What are some strategies you use to ease back into the swing of things after time away? 🤔 A big thank you to Juniper Preserve for the hospitality and to my team members, Stephanie Morris, Samantha P., Rebekah Jackson, Nisha Pundir and Gretchen Schwartz, who stepped up to keep things moving while I was out. #PTO #OOTO #TimeOff #FlexiblePTO #SummerTravel