Top Tips If You're Working on a Bank Holiday

 We’re not going to tell you otherwise – working on a Bank Holiday Monday is a bit rubbish. All your friends and family will have made plans for a beverage or two last night (especially given this unexpected heatwave) and you’ll have had to politely decline and be in bed at the usual time. It’s not so great. Especially if you’re expected to make business-to-business calls and … well … the person you should be speaking to is also lapping up an extra day off. However, all is not lost. A Bank Holiday is actually the opportunity to get a lot of other stuff done that you would normally relegate to the bottom of the pile. (Okay, we know this isn’t as fun as hitting the garden or the park with a cold beer or an ice lolly, but bear with us.) Here’s a look at some of the things you can tick off your to-do list today. Get organised We’re a tiny bit guilty of storing piles of print-outs in our desk drawers. Take today to clear out everything that you don’t need – be ruthless with it. If you haven’t looked at it in three months, bin it. And if you’re email inbox is currently sitting at 12,487 unread messages, clear ‘em out. Improve your network We can’t guarantee you’ll get a response but get adding new contacts on LinkedIn. Look for networking events in your area and sign up to them, if you can. There are often breakfast meetings or post-work events that will fit around your normal working schedule. Take your full lunch break Studies have shown that hardly any UK employees take their full lunch break entitlement (be it 30 minutes or the full hour). Use a quieter day to stretch your legs, go for a walk and enjoy a lunch in the sun. It will help you feel refreshed for the afternoon. Catch up or get ahead If you have a lot of work to catch up on, use the peace and quiet to do so. Or, if you’re not that far behind, use the time to get ahead on next week’s projects or plans. You’ll be amazed at what you can get through when it’s a little bit quieter. Make a monthly plan This is a luxury we don’t often get – planning out our workload for the next four weeks. Make a detailed daily plan of what you need to achieve and what you would like to accomplish. Yes, plans are always subject to change, but it’s great to have a clear guide as to what you are aiming for. Learn something Do some reading, join in a webinar or research some videos about your market. Make notes, take down ideas and see what you can implement in to your daily workload. There are millions of online tutorials and specialist publications that you’re bound to find something useful. Hopefully these suggestions will make being stuck in work on a lovely, sunny day a bit more bearable!