👋 Hey Reader!

Here’s what I’ve got for you in today’s issue of WFH Dads:

• How to get organized after being out of office
• What I’m reading - a book on what following Jesus actually looks like
• The 5-day email course I made for you

How to get organized after being out of office

A couple weeks ago I went on holiday.

With the kids out of school, my wife and I took a week off to enjoy a staycation and celebrate our 13th anniversary early. We played games with the family, spent time outdoors at the park, slept in a bit (as much as you can with two toddlers), and I even watched Godzilla x Kong | A New Empire.

Watching good Kong and good Godzilla fight bad Kong and bad Godzilla in zero gravity, I thought, ‘What a great vacation.’

I didn’t check Slack or email the entire week.

Last Sunday as I sat down to plan out my week after being on holiday, I wondered the best approach for catching up.

This was challenging because:

• my inbox and Slack notifications were bursting at the seams
• I missed meetings with important info I needed to know
• some unplanned projects came my way in my absence

Perhaps you’ve been AVOIDING going on holiday because of these very reasons.

Here’s what I did to get my bearings:

Step 1 - Get certain things in place BEFORE going out of office

To ensure that things didn’t fall apart in my absence, I needed to have a few of my responsibilities covered.

What couldn’t wait until I returned?

I had 2 tasks that couldn’t be paused while I was on holiday.

1. As the social media strategist at my company, part of my job is to keep up with all the comments, messages, and mentions across our social media platforms. Often, users are asking us questions about our product on social media. It’s not great service to make them wait a week for a reply.
2. Additionally I had an email thread with some customers involving some timely projects.

Who handled these?

One of my colleagues on the marketing team kept an eye on social for me. She checked in on all the accounts on Mon, Wed, and Fri using a standard operating procedure I created.

For the email thread, I briefed a couple of colleagues and added them to the thread so they could continue the conversation.

This does create more work for my teammates, but thankfully we have a culture where we cover pressing needs for one another so others can enjoy their time away.

Step 2 - Create a list to document every to-do item that came through

Before I started looking through Slack and email and getting overwhelmed, I created a Notion page with three sections.

1. Top priorities

Tasks that absolutely had to get done this week went here.

2. Medium priorities

Tasks that probably needed to get done this week but weren’t as high impact went here.

3. Low priorities

Tasks I’d like to get done this week but could be pushed to next week went here.

Step 3 - Begin reviewing email, Slack, and other notifications

Just review, don’t start working

The key here was to JUST take inventory of what I needed to do.

I had to keep myself from starting to work on some of these tasks right away! But if something required a response that took less than 2 minute, I’d reply then and there.

As I came across action items, I added them to the appropriate section of my list with a link to any resources I’d need.

Ex:

Review Rob’s two video scripts (link to email thread about them)

The order I went through things

I went from least overwhelming to most overwhelming platform, so for me, that was:

1. email
2. Notion project management updates
3. Slack

Step 4 - Reprioritize

Once I had everything written down, I realized I had too many things in the ‘Top Priorities’ section. Everything can’t be a top priority. Some became medium priorities and some medium priorities became low priorities.

I then prioritized WITHIN each section. Of the top priorities, which were the most important and which were the least important?

Here’s where I landed with everything:

Step 5 - Make a plan

When are these tasks getting done?

I planned out when I would work on each task, with due dates being the primary factor.

For example, I had to finalize several things for a YouTube video to be published Wednesday, so all that work had to be done on Monday and Tuesday.

I typically reserved my top priority work for the beginning of the day and saved medium to low priority work for later in the day when my energy levels were low.

For rewatching important missed meetings, I planned to listen while eating lunch or running.

If you use Notion, you can buy my weekly planner template here (there’s a video on that page that shows how I use the planner as well).

BONUS - Be OK when it doesn’t all get done

I definitely worked more hours this week than usual and I didn’t get everything done on my list.

But this process helped me get past the overwhelm of returning to work and ensured I spent my time doing the RIGHT work.

I hope see this approach helps you.

What’s your typical process for getting caught up after returning from vacation?

Reply to this email and let me know. I read and respond to each one.

What I'm reading / watching / listening to:

​Practicing the Way​ This has been a refreshing read. It asks ‘what does it mean to be an apprentice of Jesus.’ Often in Christian culture today, it gets chalked up to just trying to be a good person and saying a prayer before meals. I love how Comer talks about what it means to really sit, think about, and accept God’s love for us. Doing so is what we’re made for. It allows us to love others and see others the way God does because our cup is filled, so to speak. One of the values I want to pass on to my kids is to love God and love others. Books like this help me explore what that actually looks like.

My free 5-day email course

In case you missed it, I recently put together a 5-day email course titled:

Top mistakes WFH dads make (and how to fix them)

This is for you if you struggle with balancing work, family, and personal time. If you feel overwhelmed, you’re not alone.

In the email course, I help you:

• improve your time management
• prioritize fitness
• set clear work/home boundaries
• combat loneliness
• plan effectively

In each email, I go through several ways to approach the problem and share what has worked for me.

If you’re interested in receiving the free email course, just click on the button below and you’ll get the first email right away.

Thanks again for being a part of this community!

Thom Gibson Founder of Work-From-Home Dads ​

113 Cherry St #92768, Seattle, WA 98104-2205
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