For a week now, I had planned on doing nothing but draw, paint, write and windsurf. Eat and sleep and stuff like that, too, of course.
I painted/drew for maybe half an hour, wrote absolutely nothing (a couple comments don't count) and I did some windsurfing (and hurt myself in the process - arrgh).
So, what did I do?
I read, a fantasy novel I had bought for my new Kindle on a whim. And I practiced the art of doing nothing and let my mind wander while looking at the ocean. Yup, it was vacation time. And most of our vacations are spent at the ocean because, as I mentioned in my first and one and only Snaps
An ocean beach is my happy place
One of the reasons this iss my happy place stems from the fact that we are only at the beach when I am on vacation or off work which should make everyone happy, right? We live about two hours from any beach so when we or I go to see the ocean it is always by choice. It makes me immensely happy to breath in the salty air, hear and see the ocean surf and feel the wind. Nothing relaxes me more.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get through my workload before we left because customers came with last minute, deadlined requests. That meant I had to put in some work hours during vacation. Not a big deal you might think and I do, too. However, it really is.
I'm a firm believer that vacations and breaks are there for a very good reason, hell, our grandparents fought for them. But I did what I felt I had to do and worked on Monday for a couple of hours and followed up with a co-worker on Tuesday. One thing done, another one still outstanding. And that's the thing. I really should have just pushed through and finished that second task as well. Instead, this work related task has been lingering in the back of my mind and thus negatively impacted the relaxation effect of my vacation. Because it was constantly nagging at me. I should have just done it Monday or Tuesday.
However, at the time I thought it more important to just have vacation right then. And I had a good time - but... Was it worth it? Having the next few days a constant reminder on my mind that I still have to do this thing? I'm not sure. I'm leaning towards I should have finished it days ago and then move on with (relative) peace of mind. On the other hand, I know I have had some wonderful times Monday/Tuesday after those bits of work.
How about you? Do you ever have to take work with you on vacation? If you do, how do you handle it?
Till next time!
Have a great rest of your day!
Cheers,
(Ocean)Bee
I do love the ocean too, I cant wait for a vacation by the sea again. It does seem a thing now that all jobs dont have backups like they used to, so nothing can wait any longer. I dont like having my vacations disturbed by work and some people think that its ok to disturb other peoples vacation times as they expect everyone to be married to the company like them and have no life outside of work.
I have picked this post on behalf of the @OurPick project! Check out our Reading Suggestions posts!
Please consider voting for our Liotes HIVE Witness. Thank you!
Vacation by the sea is the best! Granted, that's the vacation I grew up with but I also vacationed in the mountains' beauty and I'd still pick the ocean.
I agree with your work/vacation assessment. It sometimes just feels hard to do the right thing when you're surrounded by people who think that work is all there is.
Thanks for picking my post, Steve!
Fortunately my workplace culture is decent and we rarely bother people when they are on leave or vacation. At most, it's just a short whatsapp to clarify some matters.
That's great that your workplace is so considerate. In my case, the biggest problem is I because of my own work ethic and expectation. Change is progressing slowly. Honestly, it is a work in progress on all parts. And like with all progress there are times of frustration.
Understand, all the best!
I always take work with me on vacation, but I will typically only spend about an hour (maybe a little more if necessary). That's because my husband and I have our own business and our clients, while sympathetic to us needing time away, also have things that have to be done every day. So, the clients (and their customers) who need that everyday work done, we do it, but only once a day. That means that there is an autoresponder in the email to remind them that while it is still handled, it is only once a day.
Most of the time it is less than an hour a day, so it's not that big a deal. I can get up and get ready for the day, then as my husband is showering and getting ready (after I'm done), I get the work done.
It's important for these clients (and it's not all of them) that their customers get their refunds if they ask for one. And if I have time, I'll answer the emails that have questions.
So, while I do work on "vacation," it's not enough to call it a "workcation."
I think it is a little different if you have your own business and anything you do/work directly benefits you. But it's good to hear that you keep it reined in to a certain amount of time per day AND that you go on vacation. I heard from other business owners who do not which I believe is bad for everyone. We all need to recharge somehow.
I guess part of my personal problem is that I am too invested into my job for my own good. But it's hard for me to dial back because that's just not how I tick. Or have ticked all my life.
When under sail during the course of my passage from Toronto to Halifax this summer, my crewmate Pierre and myself discussed this very things... that is, how we felt physically different when under sail. It was hard to put a finger on why but there was a real sense of feeling different in the most positive of ways.
I believe that without any hesitation. When you love the ocean, there is just something about that breeze and the silence. Today we saw a cat sailing out of a harbor/bay under sail and thought that was neat. It'd be much easier to do so under motor.
If we stay somewhere I will take the laptop if we are going there for a week and do a tiny bit of work while there. If we are just going for a day or two then hell no, no work! It makes it even easier because my company are cheap asses now and eliminated work phones from the budget so sorry folks, no emails outside of working hours for me! Lol
We definitely need time away from these things, and I know that it’s tricky when there are things going on to get that time to focus. We do what we can though, so I’m sure you will do it the other way next time and just finish it at the time so it’s not lingering.
Yeah, that's pretty much what I do but - should we do it, really? I don't think so but do it anyway because I feel I have to. Hahaha - no more work phones, huh? Good for you!
I put always very strict rules on my workations to prevent being just remote work ;-)
Max 2h of work per day and if possible in the morning
That sounds like a good plan. When I do have to work I also try doing it in the morning when my sleepyhead hubby is still in bed - LOL
Congratulations @oceanbee! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 75000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out our last posts:
@oceanbee, I paid out 1.201 HIVE and 0.224 HBD to reward 7 comments in this discussion thread.