Easter Weekend and Vacation/Work Balance
Happy Easter break everyone!
Hope you are enjoying your vacation time and able to spend it in the way you like!
DO I WORK OR REST?
For me, I find vacation time or holidays to be a challenging time.
For context, I am currently on vacation in golf and wine country with my in-laws, wife and her sister. I also don’t play golf and am allergic to alcohol.
Anyways, the reason I find vacation time challenging is because I enjoy keeping my mind occupied and thinking about productivity.
With vacation, there’s an inherent expectation that you shut off.
You stop. You rest.
If you want to keep working, want to do more, or like keeping busy, I think there’s a concern that you’re a workaholic, that you’ve embodied this alpha hustle mentality, or something in between.
There’s a pressure to spend time with family or friends, socialize, rest, de-stress, disengage, and for me, that sometimes is not something I want to do.
I like continuing to work. I like maintaining a schedule for working. I don’t feel like I need a rest.
SO WHAT DO I DO?
So I would challenge your sense of productivity and vacation time. Vacation time doesn’t have to be a time for rest. Just like how productivity doesn’t have to mean hustle culture or working every waking hour. I think productivity means doing something that you feel is worthwhile invested time. In that same vein, vacation means having the time to focus on things you enjoy and allowing yourself time to enjoy them.
Look how happy he looks staring at his computer!
RE-FRAMING VACATION🌴
So what exactly is vacation time and what exactly is productivity?
I think there’s a fine balance.
But I think most important aspect is that one recognizes their self-autonomy in the whole situation.
I can decide.
I can decide when I want to work.
I can decide when I want to focus on family or friends.
And I don’t need to justify why or what to anyone.
For me this weekend, that looked like a split between time with my family and time on my computer working. I wouldn’t say I’ve got the balance right every time.
It’s a sort of moving target that I adjust to daily but I think it’s a balance that everyone needs to determine for themselves.
The main thing, though, is knowing, embracing and accepting what you want to do and not feeling guilty about it.
I work when I want to work.
I spend time with family when I want to spend time with family.
If I want to work during vacation time, I don’t feel guilty about it.
If I want to spend time with family even though I’m on a roll productivity-wise, I don’t feel guilty about it.