Got time off work for a much-anticipated vacation? That’s fantastic news! But returning to your job once that break ends? That’s a far less enjoyable experience for most people.
Hardly anyone looks forward to walking back into work to find an overflowing inbox and a long list of unresolved decisions that piled up while they were away. “Work today is extremely chaotic, and everything moves at such a rapid pace,” says Smita Hashim, Chief Product Officer at Zoom. “We’re flooded with nonstop messages and stuck in back-to-back meetings nonstop. It’s totally understandable why people feel anxious about coming back from time off.”
Data from a survey by MyBioSource illustrates just how common this struggle is: 80% of participants experience burnout after returning from paid time off (PTO), and 42% actively dread going back to work after taking a break. This post-return stress can even leave you second-guessing whether that relaxing beach getaway was worth the headache waiting for you at the office.
Thankfully, artificial intelligence can ease your transition back to work by streamlining the entire catch-up process.
Before You Go
Before you head out on your vacation, Raju Dandigam, Engineering Manager at travel management platform Navan, recommends setting up AI-powered messaging filters in advance to organize incoming correspondence while you’re gone. Tools like Superhuman, Gmail’s Smart Labels, and Outlook’s built-in AI categorization system all work well for this. You can configure these tools to automatically tag incoming emails based on custom criteria, such as the associated project or the message’s priority level.
Before You Go
