Letting the whole summer go by without a vacation can be disheartening. But sometimes work gets busy and takes precedence over time off. If you find yourself in this position, you likely figure you’ll get the chance for a vacation later in the year or next summer.
That might not be your only option though.
More and more, companies are making it easier for employees to work remotely. For companies, the incentive for providing this perk to employees means happier and more loyal employees. And, for employees, it means they don’t have to report to a desk Monday through Friday 9 to 5.
So what does this have to do with you taking a vacation?
The concept of working remotely implies that employees will get their work done regardless of where they’re located. This has given life to the “work-cation” trend.
Overall, Americans don’t do very well at unplugging during vacation. U.S. workers are taking less vacation than they did 10 years ago. In 2013, the average employee took 16 days off, which is almost a full workweek less than the average in 2000 (20.3 days), according to the U.S. Travel Association’s Project: Time Off.
On top of that, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t check their email or take an occasional work call when they do finally take a vacation. A work-cation just formalizes what we’re already doing: checking in on work while we’re away.
A work-cation works like this: you pack up all of your equipment necessary to work remotely and jet off. Pick a destination that not only fulfills your vacation and relaxation needs, but also provides you with space and connectivity to still complete your work. Then, you combine your work and vacation, ensuring all of your work gets done while still making time for a long walk on a beach in an exotic locale.
Of course, before you board a plane with your work laptop in tow, you need to run the idea past your boss. Unfortunately, not all bosses may be on board with a work-cation, especially if the organization doesn’t have a flexible work policy or if the job can’t be done remotely. According to an analysis from the Families and Work Institute, about two-thirds of U.S. companies have policies in place that allow their employees to occasionally telecommute, which is an increase from 50 percent of firms in 2008.
If getting to go on a vacation without having to actually take time off from work, saving PTO for another time, sounds too good to be true, it could be. If the only vacations you ever take during the year are work-cations, you could be at risk of feeling burnt out from never getting any real time off.
Work-cations are, by design, working vacations – it’s not necessarily a relaxing getaway, especially if you’re constantly taking calls from colleagues back at home.
What a work-cation can give you is a change of scenery to refresh your perspective without having those days counted against vacation time. And, let’s be honest, it sounds much better to log into work from a beach than at the office.
It is still important to find time throughout the year to unplug from work, get away and recharge, using those vacation days you saved during a work-cation.
Photo from https://www.themuse.com/advice/wtf-is-a-workcation-hint-something-you-need-now.
