August 16, 2006

If This Is Vacation, Why Am I Writing A Column?

If you ask an Italian how his vacation was, he will likely tell you about the amazing month he spent in Majorca. Ask an Englishman and he’ll tell you of the fascinating three weeks in Norway.

Ask an American and he’ll tell you about his weekend getaway to a Holiday Inn 50 miles away.

Save for the Japanese, we are statistically the most overworked society in the world. And we sure aren’t making any serious attempts to change the trend. Vacation time is no exception, and quite frankly, no surprise.

As Americans we do not have the kind of job security the Europeans enjoy. Studies show that in the past 30 years, the number of employees who feel they have true job security has gone down by approximately 15 percent.

The quip “You snooze, you lose” is truer than we would probably like it to be. The American Dream tradition has transformed into an ever-hungry ambition that does not offer rest for the weary.

Even if we take off eight out of the 14 days of vacation that we earned, upon return there will be eight days of e-mails, memos, projects and phone messages waiting to be made up.

We spend a great portion of our ‘free’ time enslaved to the thought of how much we’ll have to make up upon our return.

You don't have to be a diagnosed workaholic to feel a certain type of challenge in the 'have your cake and eat it too' scenario: Go away with the family and still keep up with stuff at the office. It’s no longer curious to see a parent put floaties on his child’s arms by the pool while glancing at his PalmPilot.

I wish I could tell you to adopt a carefree attitude and ‘just let go’, symbolically throwing your Sidekick into the ocean as you skip into the sunset. But I’m on vacation, sitting in one of Europe’s most gorgeous cities right now – working.

Dr. Phil would be so disappointed....

But I don’t work for Dr. Phil, and likely, neither do you. What we have to remember is that since we can’t switch between extremes, moderation may be the kind of compromise that will let us sleep in and still get promoted.

If you have made the choice to spend time with your family over these last few weeks of the summer, let them be your main project. If you must check your email, do it once in the morning and once at night, leaving whatever device you use to access it at the hotel room.

And when the fun in the sun ends, be fair and bring your vacation to the office the way you brought the office to your time off.

Display photographs and souvenirs (great conversation starters). Set your computer backdrop to a picture of your summer destination. And when the days get tedious and drab, do what every serious worker does to ease the burden. Fantasize about your next vacation.