The Workcation
A Dream Come True or Pie in the Sky?
I have now been freelancing for nearly six weeks. No time at all really.
In that time I have been on holiday twice.
Now, this is very unusual. I haven’t been on holiday since pre-COVID and here I was having two within the space of a few weeks.
I have long dreamed of taking holidays whenever I wanted, without having to submit a request to a manager who would then decide if I could have the time off that I wished for.
Or when I was a teacher, and the holidays were predefined. Yes, they were generous, but they were also expensive times to travel and often didn’t fit in with those that I wished to travel with.
Freedom of location was one of the main motivating factors to become self-employed.
My first holiday was a week in Portugal, which had been planned for some time.
The second was a short break by a stunning Scottish Loch. It came about very last minute. I was offered the chance to go the week before, and because I am the driver of my destiny, I said yes.
I had planned to work on these trips, honestly. Even just a little.
Living the workcation dream. I could be making money while having a great time.
Well, I was wrong.
Not that I didn’t have a good time. I had a wonderful time on both trips. The trouble was motivation. I just couldn’t do the work.
Before the trip, I’d had visions of sitting on the sun-drenched Mediterranean terrace, sipping freshly squeezed orange juice, and firing up my laptop to do a day’s work. I would somehow manage to work full time and have the full vacation experience.
Of course, this was unrealistic.
I was away from home in a holiday setting and my body and brain went into vacation mode.
It was just too challenging to focus on work when I could stare out at the loch or go for a swim in the outdoor heated pool.
The people I was with were in full holiday mode. It felt rude to excuse myself to go and do some work.
I was only there for a short time, after all, and I didn’t want to miss the experience.
My time together with my loved ones, to share these experiences, was so limited that I did not want to waste any of it doing something so vulgar as earning money instead.
Perhaps if I was staying longer and treating it more like a temporary home, then I could do it. By staying longer I would remove the novelty aspect and be able to focus on making a living.
I guess I am just going to have to book a longer trip to try out my theory! Now, where should I go?
Have you cracked the workcation code? Are you been disciplined enough to open that laptop and get to work, when everyone else around you is chilling? If so, how did you manage it?
