Did everyone enjoy a long and leisurely labor day weekend?  I sure did. Which brings me straight to today’s topic: Getting back to business after summer your vacation.

Oh yes, you know I’m talking to you.

There’s a good reason why fitness centers are swamped in September. After January, it’s the busiest time of the year. Because even if our true summer vacation was in July, many of us stay stuck in that easy-breezy state of mind until after labor day, when it’s really time to get the healthy groove back.

Well guess what? Labor day is officially behind us which means it’s time to get back to business…and in a big and healthy way.

The good news? Your batteries are fully recharged from all the easy-breeziness. The bad news? You might have lost your get-it-done momentum and may need to do some serious organizing and strategizing to make meal planning and working out fit with family life, workload and that crazy back-to-school traffic.

This might feel overwhelming. But before talking strategy,  let’s rewind things a little bit.

Take yourself all the way to back-to-school season You know, as a kid, when it was all about which friend would occupy the desk next to you in class or wondering what kind of teacher would be waiting for you in homeroom? Now try to remember how awesome it felt to enter a new grade, with new goals.

It was a new beginning of sorts, and an enthusiastic one at that. When everything was possible:

 This year I won’t fall behind…I’ll be top of my class.

This year, I won’t wait until it’s too late to get help for material I don’t quite understand.

This year I will enroll in extra-curricular activities and try something new!

 

What I LOVE is that even if you’ve left the school bench years ago, you can still channel that back-to-school spirit and turn it into back-to-business spirit, for the grown-up you.

Here’s how.

 

1) Set goal. And then remind yourself.

Just like the student who doesn’t want to fall behind, you can’t just think about how nice it would be, you must do. And keep reminding yourself, too.

Setting goals? Then you must verbalize, take action & set reminders – or they’ll never see the light of day. @Vanperrone<<—  Click to tweet!

The topic of goal-setting can take an entire blog post on its own, so all I will say for now is to write your goal down and keep a reminder. Whether you use the reminder function on your phone and set an alarm every week or stick a post-it on your monitor at work to keep you in check… Whatever it takes, just don’t allow yourself to forget.

2) Stock-up on back-to-business supplies:

A calendar: Whether it’s paper or electronic, make use of it. Because in order to stick to the routine must first plan the routine.

A journal: Food journalling is an incredibly useful tool. Again, this can be done using an iPhone APP or simply jotted down on a piece of paper (I prefer the latter, but whatever floats your boat).

The idea here is that even if you journal a few days a week, it makes you accountable for everything you write down and forces you to pay close attention to what exactly you are eating. Simple.

Gear: Invest in a new piece of exercise equipment. A new pair of runners, a quirky motivational t-shirt or maybe get fancy with a workout watch. Big or small, an extra piece of exercise gear might get you excited about your next sweat session.

A lunch box: I’ll leave it at that for now, since I’ll  be talking lunch boxes in greater detail this month.

3) Make like-minded friends in the workplace

Nothing can kill back-to-business spirit quicker than a negative Nancy. Make it a point to find yourself a like-minded colleague who also puts health at the forefront. Someone who will to motivate you to do a workout after a draining day at the office or will share a healthful meal with you when the office is ordering pizza.

 

This sums-up today’s post. Wishing you have a fantastic work week and motivation to get back to business in a healthy way!

P.S. For the entire month of September, I will keep with the back to business theme, so stay tuned for breakfast ideas, lunchbox staples and other fun stuff. So if you aren’t on the email list, sign up for the free email updates right HERE 

 

Are you have trouble getting back to business? Do you have any strategies you’d like to share? I’d love to know!

 

 

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