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How do you get back into “work mode” after holidays or a sabbatical?

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Honestly, I sometimes feel a bit of internal pressure or even fear that if I miss something, it will be hard to get back into work, especially because I’m strongly embedded in tech.

And you can see it… when you disconnect for 2 or 3 days and don’t follow the news, you feel mentally better, but at the same time you start losing that sense of overview that feels quite important for your career.

Because progress doesn’t stop, and every pause feels like it costs you time and, metaphorically, reduces your orientation in the industry.

How do you manage to get back into work mode after time off?

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I plan that the first morning back is dedicated to catching up on emails/messages, but not replying to them, just creating a prioritisation list. Then I close my laptop and go back on holiday because it's all too much. J/K, the prioritisation list gets me on track quickly. But to be honest, I don't shut off completely when taking a holiday.

 Does it help? Because if I started morning with emails – my whole day would be gone :D

This is so true. I always overestimate how much I've actually missed vs. how much I just scrolled past.

 Scrolling is a productivity ki*ller 😬

That feeling of the industry moving on without you is real, especially in AI right now where things shift week to week. I've stopped trying to "catch up" on everything and instead just pick 2-3 signal sources I actually trust to skim on day one back.

Honestly the first morning back I just do a brain dump of whatever's on my plate, no meetings, no Slack. Gives me an hour to get oriented before the noise kicks in, and it weirdly makes re-entry feel less brutal.

If it's just a single day, it's usually easy peasy for me to jump back into the flow.

If it's a week...that's a whole different context! The entire world could of changed by then! I love following the snowball effect and just do something productive (even if it's not a top tier need/want). Just something to get back into the flow of working. I figure most coworkers would have grace for people coming back from a longer break.

As a solo founder, I actually find it harder to switch off than to get back into work mode 😅 What helps me is not trying to catch up on everything at once. I start with one small task, review my priorities, and let the momentum come back naturally. I’ve also realized that a few days away rarely set us back as much as we think. Most of the important things are still there when we return, but we’re often more rested and able to make better decisions. The hardest part is usually overcoming the feeling that we’re already behind.

Yeah, I've been on week vacation with almost no internet, on treks so

And found out, claude reverted launch of mythos and fable!!

About how to manage get back into work mode after timeoff? imo just work with not much thinking, I've found it very effective, because otherwise I get to find motivation or reason to work which will make me feel not working anyways as that's the mood after vacation, so just do it in monk mode. haha

For me it’s actually not much difference… I always try to take work stuff with peace and harmony, not overdoing anything. Holiday feel also nice, but having no challenges after a while is a bit boring as well, so I never detach entirely.

I can relate now its almost 6 months since my parental , going to go back to work next month , i have various anxieties like will i be able to leave my kid at daycare , what about new colleagues , no context of old work ! , Not at the least how to talk to grown ups :)

the move that works for me is to start with the smallest concrete artifact i can ship. not a strategy doc. not an inbox triage. one merged PR. one customer email replied to. one paragraph written. momentum is downstream of finishing something tiny.

The part that used to scare me most about time off wasn't the industry news, it was coming back to three businesses worth of half-finished threads with no idea which one was actually on fire. What's helped is not trying to catch up on everything manually, just checking one place that tells me what actually needs a decision today and letting the rest wait its turn. I built FounderFlow partly because of this exact fear, so full disclosure that's where the framing comes from.

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