Summer’s over and you’re back at the office, but you’re still hung over from your weekend in Tuscany, Cabo, or in Universal Studios.  It’s really hard to get back on your feet and head back to work after a fun and exciting weekend with your family and friends.

Ronald Humphrey, a professor from Virginia Commonwealth University and author of “Affect and Emotion: New Directions in Management Theory and Research” concluded that employees who just came back from a holiday will usually get a bad case of post-vacation blues, making it hard for them to focus or concentrate on their tasks.  According to him, “when you go on vacation, you spend a lot of time with people who love and care about you, then you come back to the office, and it may be cold and emotionless.” But you can’t stay in that funk forever, especially when bosses and colleagues continue to expect a lot from you.  Deadlines, targets, and clients need to be taken care of immediately.  Here are some tips you should keep in mind to help you regain your foothold and perform better at work, no matter how fun that vacation was:
• Be the early bird on the first day
On your first day back in the office, try to come in much earlier than you’re expected to.    While waiting for the others to arrive, you can start checking your mail to find out what you might have missed while you were away.  You should also use this extra time to find out if you’ve already been given tasks that you should accomplish within the week.  This way, you won’t have a tough time dealing with your backlog of tasks that may have piled up while you were away.

• Socialize and Share
During lunch break, invite your colleagues who also went on vacation to exchange stories — or even photos — about your holiday experiences.  Humphrey believes that such an activity “brings some of their vacation spirit back to work with them. ”

•Display memorable photos and souvenirs
On your desk, display photos that were taken during your vacation.  This is usually a great way to relive the fun times you had.  In addition, this can motivate you to focus on your work and help you save up for another vacation the next year!

Exhausted with your routine at work? Sick and tired of office politics, the corporate world, or monthly paychecks down the drain because of high gas prices?  You may want to consider being self-employed and venturing into a new business right at the comfort of your own home.

With the development of technology, home-based careers also blossomed.  You can be a blogger, researcher, writer, and an online teacher.  All you need is an ample workspace with a good computer and a stable Internet connection.  Once you have this, you can accomplish tasks at home as easily as though you were in the office.

But in terms of home businesses, there are also numerous ways through which you can exemplify your entrepreneurial skills.  Check out the following home businesses ideas.  One of them might be a perfect fit to your desires and personality.

•    Financial Planner
If numbers is your thing, you may want to set-up a business in financial services.  As a financial planner, you work closely with clients to help them with their finances, particularly in selecting the appropriate investment for them. This can be a good business venture, especially with the hundreds of boomers about to retire this year.  They all want to make the right decisions in investing their retirement pay, pension and other benefits.

What is important in this business is of course, a solid background in finance and planning skills. If you’re a business management degree holder, or if you’ve worked in finance services before, this home business is perfect for you.

•    Fitness Instructor
Yoga, Pilates, and Tai Chi are all the rage in the country right now.  If you’re a health buff and you want to help others keep fit, you should consider becoming a personal fitness trainer.  As a fitness instructor, you need to create a fitness program with clients, helping them lose weight and be healthy.  This involves regular work-outs, proper diet, and change of lifestyle to guarantee results.

•    Antique Restoration
In this business, you’re in charge of finding, restoring, and refinishing furniture, trinkets, and even automobiles from the past.  To restore such products to good condition, it is ideal to have a capable set of hands in woodwork, varnishing, and painting.

Antique restoration is pretty exciting, since you can work firsthand with such unique pieces and bring it back to its former glory so you can sell them to collectors, antique dealers, resellers, estates, galleries, museums, and others.

If one of the home businesses interests you, maybe it’s time to make a drastic change.  Make your passion your own bread and butter.  Earn money at home while doing something you really love.

In looking for a job, we obviously want to be hired by top companies.  Aside from the possibility of getting a big paycheck every month, working in a top company gives you prestige, benefits, and employment growth.  But did you know that some of these top companies also offer unusual perks?

Earlier this year, Fortune Magazine identified the 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008. The list was based on the number of workers and percentage of job growth of the companies from the previous year.  But aside from these criteria, the magazine also identified the best companies that provide unusual yet innovative perks to their employees.

Instead of just focusing on the salary you might receive, why don’t you consider the unusual perks offered by some of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008?  One of them might suit you and your career goals perfectly.
•    Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Rank: 61 out of 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008
The third-largest general producer of natural gas in the country gives its employees a chance to learn and get a certification in scuba-diving.  Using the company’s Olympic-size pool, they can easily learn the basics of scuba diving from an instructor and instructional materials are also provided free of charge.  Chesapeake employees therefore bring their flippers at the office and once work’s done, they head down and take a plunge in different Oklahoma lakes.

•    eBay
Rank : 68 out of 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008
The most famous online auction and shopping service also provides an unusual but creative perk for its employees.  Ebay allotted a lofty space on its San Jose office decorated with earth tones, pillows and tatami floor mats.  This room was specifically designed for the employees to relieve stress through prayer and meditation during workday.  Ohhhmmmm…

•    Erickson Retirement Communities
Rank : 93 out of 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008
A real estate company involved in the development and operations of various retirement communities across the country, this firm loves to cater to its employees who are about to tie the knot.  Employees of the Erickson Retirement Communities can get married for free in any chapel located in the company’s retirement communities.  The most popular wedding location is the Our Lady of the Angels Chapel in Charlestown community.  During the wedding, couples say their vows inside the 68 foot dome basilica that has magnificent tapestry and structure. Now, that is romantic!

•    Quicken Loans
Rank : 2 out of 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008
Identified as one of the largest independent mortgage companies in the country to date, Quicken Loans gives its employees a treat, especially if they’re fans of the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Workers in Michigan are given a change to watch the NBA team Cavaliers play ball.  This is sponsored by Quicken Loans CEO Dan Gilbert, who is simultaneously the owner of the said NBA team.  For others who are not basketball fanatics, company-sponsored buses are also offered to attend any concert at the Quicken Loans Arena in Ohio.

•    Google
Rank : 1 out of 100 Best Companies to Work for 2008
The renowned search engine in the world gives incentives to its employees who are pro-green.  Google encourages its employees to save energy by giving $1,000 once they purchase a hybrid or electric car.  The company surely knows the value of the environment with its supplementary program of giving discount program to workers in California who install solar panels in their homes.

Are you still having trouble choosing the right career? Relax. Set your worries aside first and sit in front of the TV. One of your favorite shows may help you find that dream career you’ve long been looking for.

1. Grey’s Anatomy, ER, House, General Hospital, Scrubs

These shows introduce you to the hospital world. In a way they help you get acquainted on how it goes to be working in the field of health care.

2. CSI, NYPD Blue, Law and Order, Without a Trace, Bones

Crime and police dramas meanwhile give you a tour on the lives of law enforcers and people at the Police Department. If you are thinking of having a career in criminal justice, then these shows are of great help.

3. Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, The Pratice, JAG

If you enjoy watching legal dramas, then why not pursue a career in the legal field? The law office is made up not just of lawyers but of paralegals, legal researchers and assistants as well.

4. Murphy Brown, Just Shoot Me, Ugly Betty, Sunset Strip
These comedies in fact show you how it is to work for entertainment and media.

5. Boston Public
If you are thinking of careers in education and guidance counseling, then this series may also be helpful to you.

Do you find yourself reading tons of books, doing calculus, developing a new theory, or mixing substances in your lab in your leisure time? Do people make fun of your scrawny posture and your outdated wardrobe, then call you either a geek or a nerd?

Don’t fret! Just think that beneath the physically or socially awkward exterior of nerds lies a person with a high level of IQ compared to others.

Thanks to the rise of technology, nerds have transcended the mockery of peers to gain respect and a high status in society. Just think of Albert Einstein and Bill Gates. Nerds have begun to exemplify extraordinary skills and knowledge, and soon a wide range of career opportunities have opened up to them.

The following are the top five careers where the geek squad dominates:

1. Computer Hardware Software Engineers
They have the ability and expertise in computer science together with its needed mathematical analysis needed to make computers work. One prime example: who else but Bill Gates!

2. Network System Specialist
They are responsible for the update, development, and creation of office computer systems. This job could sound tedious to laypeople, but it is fascinating enough to brainy people, what with its challenging complex local area networks (LAN) or wide-area networks (WAN), and the Internet and intranet systems.

3. Political and Economic Specialist
These careers primarily involve intense research and knowledge on national and foreign issues in politics and economy. These specialists are members of think tank organizations hired by various government agencies business corporations. Nerds comprise the think tank to formulate policies and strategies for the benefit of the company.

4. Electrical Mechanical Engineers
Engineers are equally involved with the application of science and math in solving technical problems. Who loves math and science but the nerds?

5. Media Writers, Producers or Directors
Nerds can be seen behind the camera as writers, producers and directors with their imagination and creativity. They can instantly write and design interesting plots for viewers.