With all the technology available to us, it’s so easy to work while on vacation. We can bring laptops, tablets and even our smart phones to keep up on our business tasks. Whether it’s staying current on email or conducting full-fledged business, the temptation to keep working on your time off is really strong.
I’ve been guilty of this myself. I always bring my laptop with me when I go on vacation. I’m always itching to turn on the computer and get caught up (or at least avoid getting further behind). I’m even taking time to write a blog post about taking time off. Ironic, isn’t it?
It’s a good thing to proactively manage your time and stay on top of things. But it’s easy to take it so far that you’re constantly working when you’re supposed to be relaxing. This year while I’m away from home for our vacation, I’m actually taking time off to enjoy the vacation. This blog post is the only “real work” I’m doing this week. I’m even skipping my weekly podcast so I can spend a little more time with family.
Is this a bad business practice? Maybe. My listeners and readers deserve predictability and content delivered on a regular basis. Is this poor planning on my part? Probably. I could have planned farther ahead and had blog posts and podcast episodes scheduled for release while I was gone.
Is this a lesson learned? Yep. Will I continue to work while on vacation? Nope. I’m going to finish typing this post and get back to spending time with family. I may take some time later this week to filter through my emails, but for the rest of the week I’m done working and ready to relax.
Did you take time off to enjoy the holidays or did you work through them? Did you have a choice? Should I be working more or relaxing more? Share your thoughts and let me know what you think.