Labor Day weekend has come and gone, leaving us trudging back to the office on this dreary Tuesday morning. While it’s hard to find a silver lining of heading back to work (other than that now you have a four-day week– score!), there is a right way to come back to work, to make sure you’re as productive as possible out of the gate. Follow these steps to turbo-charge your first day back in the office after a long weekend or vacation.

DO: Get your sweat on

Long weekends and healthy diet and exercise don’t often go together, so one of the best ways to come back from vacation on all cylinders is by getting in a good workout. Bonus points if you’re able to squeeze it in before work!

DON’T: Check your email first thing in the morning

Just don’t do it. By opening your inbox as soon as you get to work, you make yourself susceptible to overwhelm, and worse, you set your tone for the day as reactive instead of proactive. Instead…

DO: Make a top priorities list

Chances are, you have a mental list of a few items that you absolutely NEED to get done today. Write them down, and make those your “A” (top priority) tasks for the day. These should be tasks that YOU are responsible for, and MUST get done today.

DON’T: Bombard your colleagues

Picture this: you’ve just entered your place of work, and are settling into your chair, getting ready to tackle your day, and trying not to get overwhelmed with everything that’s sure to be on your plate once you turn on your computer. Before you can even get comfortable, a colleague storms over to unload a list of questions on you, or tell you a list of things they need. Ugh. Don’t be this person. Like you, everyone is probably feeling a little stressed the first day back from vacay, so be respectful. Make a list of the people you need to talk to in order to accomplish your daily tasks, and plan to reach out to them before lunch, but after 10:00 am. That way they’ll have the morning to settle into their own work, and all afternoon (in theory) to work on what you need.