Do You Work on Vacations?

Here's an interesting work/life question: do you work on vacations? Marci Alboher recently said she's now taking non-working vacations. Is that what you do?

For me, most of my vacations are non-working, at least mostly. Here's what I mean by what may seem to be contradictory thoughts in that last sentence:

• When I take time off, I don't take any work with me and don't actively do work-related projects.

• That said, we're a small company, so I can't unplug entirely (each person has a critical link in the chain.) Even on a short vacation, use my Blackberry (it includes my personal calendar, address book, and task list, so I use it when I'm on vacation) to look at my emails just to make sure everything is ok. On longer vacations, I take my computer just in case an emergency arises. During my trip to Disney last September, and emergency did arise (a presentation with a customer) and only I had the data needed. Our condo had high-speed wireless internet service, so I fired up the computer and sent them what they needed.

Given these facts, I'll let you be the judge whether or not I do work on vacation. ;-)

How about you? Do you work while on vacation or do you totally unplug?

Comments

[That One Caveman]

If I'm on vacation, I don't even check emails. My company pays me for the time I give them and I certainly won't give them any more for free. In my last vacation, there were even a few "emergencies" that they had to figure out how to solve without me. When I got back, I cleaned up the messes and went back to work. It's nice when everyone in the office understands that personal time is sacred.

[That One Caveman]

I do have to follow up, though... In starting up my own company, I realize that now I am volunteering to sacrifice my time due to my high position of responsibility. In my corporate job, I am the low man on the totem pole, so I don't worry about problems. But as a business owner, my perspective and responsibilities are different. In one, I am accountable only to my boss; in the other, I'm accountable to every single customer.

I suppose it is all tied to those two parameters.

[patrick]

I have worked on vacations in the past, but I refuse to do it now. I stay with a job that is not all that fulfilling because I can get away from it. I take a little less pay with less interesting work for the work life balance. It also helps that I have an 8 minute commute to this job in a town where my commute could easily be 6-7x that.

[Eli]

As soon as my company gave me a notebook computer, I knew that my day/time would be split into two catagories. One is In-Office work and the other is Out-of-office work. Even though my company believes heavily in work/life balance, they also are 24-7 (and global) and my department does very differnt shifts. So, I need to be "plugged in" most of the time, even though I am not that "critical" to most of the goings on in the department.

So, as for your question, when I get to go on vacation, I *try* not to log on, but I tend to take a peek to at least tame the hord of e-mails every day at least once, probably a few times. So, even though I am not "actively" on-line and "working" I am aware of what is happening.

(At least no one tells me I'm a work-a-holic... much...)

[Jon]

I totally unplug on vacations. No email, pager, most of the time the cell phone isn't even on unless I need it. To me it is a paid vacation, no strings attached. If the business can't survive during an emergency with you gone, then they need to have more than one person who can do your job. Of course on some of my vacations, I have no electricity, cell phone service, or internet connection so it doesn't matter anyway. My feeling is, I earned it, they gave it, so it's my time, not theirs.
I don't think about work until I walk in the doors every morning, and I stop thinking about it the second I walk out in the evening.

[Amanda]

I definitely have a hard time NOT looking at my Blackberry when on vacation, but I try to stop there.

[rdub98]

My company bought me a laptop for use when I am on vacation or travel. That means that I have to carry it with me whenever I travel. I only use it for work if an emergency happens, but I have to lug it around every vacation I take. I don't even like to work when I'm at work, so you can imagine how I feel about working on vacation.

[Foobarista]

I'm a fairly senior person in my company so I can't completely avoid emails and such while I'm gone. We went on a cruise in November and my company paid for internet on the boat so I could deal with email at night, and I've been known to have to respond to a crisis while I'm gone.

Also, my wife is self-employed and she can't avoid work; even when we're visiting family in China, she has to call people at odd hours to keep her deals moving while she's gone.

[buhler]

I am in the disconnect from work camp! I would go crazy if I did not have some down time once in awhile. I also agree that the company pays me to get away and I put in plenty of overtime throughout the year for which I am not compensated. Vacation is time away for me and my family. In the past when contacted by my manager while on vacation I asked for that day to not count towards my vacation time. To make this work I am very careful to make sure all bases are covered prior to leaving on vacation so that I do not need to be contacted. It also helps that I like to do things in the mountains where cell service is hit or miss at best.

[Lily]

Heh, I wonder if anyone from investment banking will chime up on this thread.

[mjmcinto]

Well, the last "real" vacation I had was over 3 years ago when I got married, and it was my honeymoon. I didn't take any work with me there ;)

Since then, I've gone on short stints to see family, and yes I worked. I was managing people, and was having to deal with things. Luckily it wasn't ever too involved, and could usually be handled over the phone or email.

I even took my laptop and Blackberry with me when one of my wife's close relatives got really sick (and then passed away). It wasn't so much as my company telling me I had to, but I felt bad b/c I was leaving them in a tough spot since it was very much an unplanned thing, and I had several high priority projects I was working on and managing. My boss stepped in and took most of it over for me for those few short days, but they did need to contact me for a few things (I did make sure I didn't answer phone calls/emails when my wife needed me...but while she was asleep I was working).

I'm looking forward to my next vacation, as I'm now at a new job, and I hope to go out of the country somewhere that I can't be reached and just relax like I did on my honeymoon. Just don't know when that will be.

And yes - I've been called a work-a-holic (I used to work 12+ hour days 5 days a week, and then a few hours on sat and sun).

[plonkee]

I'm not compensated enough to work on vacation time. And I'm more than happy with that. I do often check emails, but only to make sure that my inbox doesn't get clogged up - if it can be deleted it will be, otherwise it stays.

[mjmcinto]

@Lily - the job I had where I was always connected and working so much wasn't investment banking per say, but it was with an organization that did do trading.

[Kevin]

No work on vacations for me, but I have a feeling that may change when I make partner at my CPA firm. But I will try like mad to keep them no-work.

[Asithi from Small Steps to Health]

My husband used to when he worked for a private company. We would have to lug that company laptop and cellphone everywhere. I don't work. I even tell everyone at work that I will not answer my phone. I always make it a priority to let everyone know how important my vacations are and that unless someone is dying, I am not going to re-schedule it (of course that's after I established myself as a hard worker at a new company).

[FS]

As a recovering workaholic, I can certainly feel the pain of those that still work on vacation (even if its "just" checking email or voicemail.) What finally turned the tide for me was an anniversary trip 1) to a remote area of Mexico where none of my electronic leashes would work 2) with my bride of 5 years who insisted that I not even call in to the office. Obviously, it was necessary for me to plan in advance to complete outstanding work AND have a contingency plan in place for co-workers for so-called emergencies. Most things that seem critical one day are really small in the grand scheme of things, and as such, not worthy of personal sacrifice. Five years after my first "unplugged" vacation, I'm proud to say that I now take 9-day vacations 3 times per year, and I'm working toward one per quarter. To those of you like me that thought it was impossible to unplug from work, I'd challenge you to try it once. You may never go back...and make lots of great memories with family and friends in the process! Best wishes.

[aaktx]

I have a fairly stressful job so when I go on vacation the last thing I do is think about it. I have partners who cover my share of work and try to enjoy myself away from the job. My only problem is I like my job a lot and do not take much vacation despite decent opportunities.

[kitty]

It depends. If I go somewhere, then I don't. If there is a risk of something important that needs my attention I logon when I get back to check it, also I might logon to see if there are any meetings on Monday morning so that I am not late.

If I don't go anywhere, I might do some work from home. I have a lot of vacation days for working for the same company for over 20 years - 5 weeks+3 personal choice holidays, so I often have extra days left in December. Occasionally I want to finish something; at other times someone might call and ask to resolve a problem. One year I was working with a friend from another department on a patent application and was afraid January would be too busy to work on it. Another year I was working with several people on a paper for a conference, and there was a deadline in December. You cannot do much about this stuff -nobody forces us to do it, especially since I am a software engineer and not a research scientist, but having one's name on a published paper is a positive thing on the following year review, much like patents (and we get awards for the latter). I might also use the time to learn new technologies - if I am in the mood.

So I guess the answer is - occasionally.

[Honest Dollar]

@ mjmcinto - I feel your pain. :(

Are you actually a workaholic though? As in, was that something you put on yourself, or was that something your job pressured you into?

I ask because most of my banker friends aren't workaholics in the strict sense of the word, and neither was I when I worked in banking. None of us wanted to be there; we didn't want to put work ahead of family and friends. We did it because everybody else did, and because we thought that's what you need to do to get ahead (or get the bonus, really).

In my new job, I still work around 12 hours a day, but unlike banking, I don't check my email or BlackBerry once I leave work, except maybe an occasional glance before bed. I recently took a vacation where I think I spent a total of 10 minutes the whole week-long trip answering emails, and it was incredibly liberating and such a relief after banking!

I think we live in a slightly sick society today where we feel compelled to bring work with us. Technology is definitely a contributing factor, since now we actually can take work with us, where we couldn't twenty years ago. The line between work and home life has definitely been blurred, and while I enjoy the convenience that technology has brought, I'm not sure it's all for the better.

[Big Cheese]

I usually do a couple of hours of email per day while on vacation. If I have a lot of activities I let it slide. When I climbed Mt Kilimanjaro I left my laptop at home and returned to 800 unread emails! It was pretty ugly.

BC

[Teri]

TOTALLY unplug.

My last job I had to WORK on vacations. I never could stand that.

Even on 4 month long leave I didn't have to think about work for a second. Which is nice about my job. We all do the same job so we take up each others' slack when someone is out. & our clients are familiar with 2 or 3 of us so it's not bad when one person is out.

On the flip side, some of my clients are attached to me and I noticed they saved up a lot of stuff for me when I was out 4 months. Just wait until I get back. Problem is a lot of my clients did that. LOL. But I preferred that to fielding their calls while I was out.

[db]

Do I take work on vacations? Huh?

Heck no! And if I worked at a company where that was expected or where I felt I couldn't completely unhinge if I wanted to stay in the game, sorry, but I'd have to find a different place to work.

[mjmcinto]

@HonestDollar - I do think that while I may not be a full-fledged work-a-holic, I definitely have tendencies. Before I went to the company where I was working 12+ hour days, I still never really took a vacation, and I was working at a Telco. I went into work at least once on vacation, and usually worked on some of my projects while I was "off". A vacation just meant I slept in, worked for a few hours, while watching TV. Heck, I had back surgery, and after 2 weeks, was arguing with my doctor about whether or not I could go back to work. He said something to the effect of "well if it's a matter of disability insurance or they're trying to get you to come back, we can make sure we give them a letter that states you need more time". I don't think he quite knew how to respond when I said, "No, I want to go back b/c I'm bored at home".

Now that i'm in a new job, that's much more relaxed, it was nice to not have the pressure of the 12+ hour days, but I can feel that sort of thing creeping back in (and I know it's not the company this time). I'm having to make sure I leave before 5 on most days, even though I get in at 7. And I'm checking my BB a couple of times a night, and will even remote in on some weekends.

Also, my idea of "retirement" is to open up a business (or two, or three...) I don't think I'll ever be able to stop completely and relax. Though I do plan on tacking a vacation w/in the next two years, and going to Mexico where my cell won't work, and I won't be taking a laptop or anything. My wife jokes that I'll go into withdrawal....but she may be right to a certain extent.

[JD]

Lily, I guess I'll answer your wish as someone in investment banking (actually trading) and chime in here. Yes, of course I work on vacation. I work in the evenings as well. Does that mean I'm tied down to a computer while I'm on vacation??? Of course not, basically it means I'm answering emails on my blackberry, checking the markets throughout the day, and fielding some phone calls. Its not A LOT. I would actually be more nervous if I were on vacation and did NOT know what was going on. I remember two years ago I was in Morocco on vacation and lost my BlackBerry, I was freaking out and had to keep getting on a landline to know what was going on. I didn't have to call in that much, but its just part of my personality. I'm in no way a workaholic, I just like being connected and knowing what's going on.

To people who think its "awful" to work on vacation, I guess its up to the individual. I personally love my job, they also pay me several hundred grand a year and I'm not even 30, so you can't expect it to be a simple 9-5er. Any "fast-track" job would have you do the same, whether it pays a lot or not. You could be an investment banker or a top firm lawyer, etc. and you know going in that a lot will be expected from you and that is the price you pay. Or you could be working in DC as something like a White House or Congressional staffer and you will work your ass off and not even get paid much - but you do it because you love the job and building a big career.

My girlfriend gets tired of how I am always on my cell phone or blackberry for work and I understand her feelings. But I WOULDN'T give it up for the world. Its way too exciting, way too fulfilling, and way too lucrative.

[Brandon]

I completely unplug though my company does require us to make ourselves available in the case of a critical infrastructural emergency (I work for a power/gas company), but those are rare (I have never been called up yet).

[Matt]

I'm a sysadmin. I've never had a W2 job where turning off one's cellphone and/or pager wasn't a firing offense. And yes, that includes vacations.

Now that I'm self-employed...well, it's still a firing offense, except that "firing" means "the company suddenly faces imminent bankruptcy as customers desert me en masse". On the up side, there's nobody else in a position to screw things up that badly...if there's a crisis, it can only be because I fell down on the job of preparation and automatic DR that I consider to be the core of my work. Customer calls tend to happen only during the hours when I anticipate them happening, and I plan my life around that, and all my present customers understand "I'm on vacation, so please don't call this week unless it's an emergency".

Would I like to be able to take a vacation with absolutely no fear of interruption? Sure...but not badly enough to change what I do for a living, and that's what it'd take.