Do You Work During Your Vacation?

I've discovered that's the one downside of freelancing—that often, you end up on projects that overlap into vacations, or your client needs something ASAP while you're on the road.

I try to minimize it (maybe an hour or two in the evenings after the kiddos are asleep).

But the truth is, I love my work so much...it isn't that much of a drag to be doing it from Disney World.

The Mamahood
themamahood.typepad.com

Some think I am blessed - my work actually involves checking out vacations and travel services. It is almost impossible to have a true break from "work". Still it only becomes tiresome occasionally.

While some people hate the idea of being "always connected" and "always working" - I think you see the benefit of having the type of job that can be done anywhere - and anyplace.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

Thanks for the article. I have been working on my vacation since we started our business and yet it does not stop me from traveling. We were in Cambodia last year and we were able to build a whole website all while taking in a trip to the fabulous Ankgor Wat. Amazing what you can do virtually!

Janette Leon-Speyer
WebSuccessTeam
www.websuccessteam.com ( http://www.websuccessteam.com )

Hah! I know exactly how that feels. Which is also part of my vacation issues. I don't normally leave the house during the December holidays - it's too darn cold in Chicago but my kids fly up here to me. Someday, it will be easier for me to take a real vacation, in December - one that doesn't include snowboots or my laptop.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

If I'm on vacation, I do not work. I've earned them - they said so when I accepted the position. If I'm planning to take a trip or a day at the spa, the blackberry can sit at home.
Now my place of employment does offer flex vacation days and we've been offered extra holidays in December. Those I'm willing to work through. As long as it doesn't involve leaving my house. It has to be crucial for me to put on snow boots.
::shutterboo:: ( http://www.shutterboo.com )

That's not exactly my problem, but I know that some people do have those kinds of concerns. Definitely.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

Hi all, I am new to blogging but have enjoyed it so far.
I am a workaholic but have always felt like I never get a break! Recently my husband and I seperated so my friends decided to take me to all inclusive. I didn't really have the money but I went through this place, united military travel, and basically paid close to 1/2, which enabled me to go on a much needed vacation.
I honestly had a very difficult time not checking my work e-mail and calling work to see if everything was going ok. It was a five day vacation and I worked all five days!
The reality is that we all know after a vacation we have to go to back to work and therefore we feel that if we aren't being missed for five days, the boss may think they can do without?

And I'm very glad you do it - even if it does give me the shakes a little during the first day or so that you're gone. ;-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

I am very lucky in that respect, my partner also works through her vacation days - so there's no fighting or hurt feelings.

I've taken just a few completely unconnected vacations in the last ten years and honestly - I came back feeling less relaxed than if I'd been just a wee bit connected. That doesn't mean I won't totally disconnect at some point in time, for another vacation. I'm sure I will. I just won't do it every time.

;-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

But what if my reasons for taking vacation are not the same as yours? Because sure, spending time with my family is part of it - but that's not the only reason.

Sitting here answering comments, writing a blog post about a cool new app, helping new members figure out a profile photo problem - all very important to me, and fun. I am still on vacation - I'm not in a phone conference and trying to do all of these things on top of meeting other work related deadlines.

I really am on vacation - and enjoying every second of it. (As my 20 year old daughter stands next to me discussing her newest domain name purchase - which is also fun.)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

Going on vacation IS hard if you don't have a good team backing you up.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

I often get a lot of work done while on vacation because I'm free from doing other tasks. That means when I come back to work, I'm feeling pretty good about the tasks that are no longer hanging over my head.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

The last time I took a vacation and wasn’t connected was four years ago. The only reason why I didn’t work was I was in Mexico and had no blackberry service. I always work on vacation, but fortunately so does my husband, so, there are no fights….Although I really only do emails, and not “work, work”. I think the need to stay connected relates so much to technology. Now, everyone has a Blackberry, I-phone or Treo. You are constantly receiving emails all hours of the day and night, unlike the past when a client with a question had to wait until the morning to call you. In turn, I find myself replying to work emails all hours of the day and night as well, including when on vacation. I feel like if I don’t, I get too overwhelmed when I return to work, making the time off not worth it… which I find sad.

http://wwwfeelingbeachie.blogspot.com/

The reason we all take a vactation from work is to get away! Tell people when you will be available, and that's it! Leave an "away message" opn your work email and take some time for yourself and your family.

-Karen

www.mylifespot.com ( http://www.mylifespot.com )   Tips for Moms to have the good life....  for yourself... for your family.

I do find that a stretch of time without working at all is good for my own state of mind. But being able to check in and NOT checking in is very bad for my state of mind. So I will plan trips to places where there is no internet at all, problem solved :)

But if there is internet, I like to have a little time to work. (Especially during family vacations.)

I try very hard to have all my reports completed before taking extra time off but I will respond if my office sends over questions. Simply because the clients shouldn't have to wait for answers if I'm on vacation. However, most of my reports go through without additional work required so it isn't a constant issue.

My husband,however, has a more difficult time getting away from his work. He is the only one in his department and while he does have a contract with a computer consulting company to cover while he is away, sometimes his office doesn't like to call them. Case in point, we flew out to Seattle during a power outage at his office. He got a call at 6am Seattle time because the person at the office screwed up the instructions on rebooting the server. He actually forgot to turn it on........ nice huh?

Yes, I work on vacations (well, it depends on the vacation) and often see them as a time to get MORE done because I have more hands on deck. It's not relaxing to have tasks hanging over my head.

Melissa writes Stirrup Queens ( http://stirrup-queens.com ) and Lost and Found ( http://lostandfoundandconnectionsabound.blogspot.c... ). Her book is Navigating the Land of If ( http://thelandofif.blogspot.com/ ).

As a freelancer, it's pretty darn difficult to completely take time off. It sounds like you've got a strategy that works for you, and I think that's exactly what matters.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

...every Christmas I take two weeks off. Unplugged. It's terrifying and wonderful all at once. And my kids love it.

Lisa Stone, BlogHer Co-founder ( http://www.blogher.com/member/lisa-stone )

BlogHer is non-partisan but our bloggers aren't! Follow our coverage of Politics & News ( http://www.blogher.com/topic/politics-news ).

Now that I'm a freelancer - I have deadlines all over the place and more than one client. It is difficult to have a work-free week but I do check email sometimes only once a day and sometimes once 3every other day. I find that with new clients, I have to be in touch and responsive so that they know I'm on the case. Sometimes I just tell the world I'm on vacation but other times I can't. Still, I do keep work to a minimum because I've learned the hard way that the worse thing to do is to come back from a break and not feel relaxed.

http://blog.candelariasilva.com ( http://blog.candelarisilva.com/ )

Good and plenty!

I sometimes take Fridays off, going away for a long weekend, and when I do that, I completely disconnect from the Internet and from work. But if it's a longer vacation, say 1-2 weeks, I do work a little every day.

I do envy the Europeans who just shut Europe down for 2 months of summer each year, so that people can truly take a vacation without worrying about dealing with piles of work upon their return.

----

Vered DeLeeuw

Professional Blogger ( http://momgrind.com/hire-me/ ) and Social Media Consultant ( http://www.socialmediamarketingexpert.net/ )

I knew I should have grown up to be a rocket scientist. I'm going to show this post to the little kids, there's still time for them to choose the right career! ;-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

Another great example of why some of us really do have to work during our official "time off".

I kind of did that pledge thing - I have to work a little bit everyday (spam waits for no woman) but for the last several months I've tried to do only a small bit of work on Saturdays and leave the bulk of my weekend work for Sundays. That's worked really well for me.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

But there's a chance that you'll still work through your trip?

Are you taking a laptop? Your cell phone? (Because that's the only way I'd be able to completely unplug lol.)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

The majority of my time this week is spent not working at all and I've enjoyed that.

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

Maybe he and I should go on vacation together. We could work and relax at the same time and be just fine!

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.

I rarely work on my vacations. My work is very bound to my work place. I help develop and test flight software for satellites. Some of this work can be done from a remote computer connected to work via a secure connection but its slow and frustrating so I usually avoid it like the plague. Its much easier to do my work at work.

I confess that I often do take satellite documents with me on vacation with the thought that I can leisurely read through them and understand just how this part of a satellite works without co-workers breathing down my neck. But so far I have never cracked a document when I do this!

Work just does not appeal to me when I'm on vacation. I would much rather go for a hike, read a novel, go for a swim, go boating, chat with my relatives, play on Facebook, play on Blogher, sleep lots, go out to eat, etc. etc.

Cathy  R.

Every year for the past 5 years, I have worked over my August vacation. This is because I am a college professor, and August is when I am ramping back up into "prof mode". I take my computer to our cottage and update my syllabi and course calendars while sitting on the deck with a martini, so I'm not sure if this counts as work.

I work on weekends too--this past year I pledged not to work on Sundays, and was mostly able to hold to that (except at midterms and finals, when all bets are off).

I work on my days "off"... all the time. Not good. My next trip is out of the country where I hope to be forced to relax and, more importantly, unplug. Nice read.

Check out my ramblings at Crossroads at 40. ( http://www.noroadmap.wordpress.com )

It depends. I'm on "vacation" as my family is camping this week. I'm still working four hours per day. Why? Reasons that are the same as yours. More over, as this is one of our multi-generational vacations, my kids are more than happy to spend extra time with Yia Yia and Papau. That said, when my four hours are up, I am more than pleased to head back to the campground, pick up my book and ignore the whole Internet. It's good for me.

Jenna Hatfield (@FireMom ( http://twitter.com/FireMom )), from Stop, Drop and Blog ( http://stopdropandblog.com ) and The Chronicles of Munchkin Land ( http://thechroniclesofmunchkinland.com ), is a freelance writer and newspaper photographer.

It depends on the job and the work. In my last job I worked from home so the only way to not work was to go far, far away from home. (Funny, people stop calling if you run away to Europe.) That was one job where when I was on vacation I was ON VACATION. (Unless of course a project was on fire, and I mean real fire not just the regular every day fires, then they were allowed to call me.)

My current jobs? One of them I can't really do any work for while I'm on vacation. The other I generally peek in on because I really like it but I try to keep it minimal (though it's nice to have a day or two where I don't deal with spammers, it must be said).

The fake husband is not allowed to work on vacation. He's not even allowed to take his laptop. I'd have to pry it out of his hands and we'd fight the whole time because he'd be working the whole time. (If left to his own devices he will also work 12 hours a day, not because the work demands but because he's a workaholic.)

It depends on the job. It depends on if you freelance. It depends on if you love it. It depends on if you can balance just an itty bit of work and play. It depends on if it is expected of you.

But if I ever go to Europe again? Forget it. I'm not working.

Contributing Editor Sassymonkey also blogs at Sassymonkey ( http://sassymonkey.ca ) and Sassymonkey Reads ( http://sassymonkeyreads.ca ).

I can't wrap my head around that concept. I just can't. It's the workaholic in me. ;-)

~Denise
BlogHer Community Manager
Life. Flow. Fluctuate.