It’s wearing off! The 3-day, really really short vacation I took last week.
But before it is relegated to just LIKES on my Instagram uploads, I’ve decided I will continue to bring back my holiday at work. And no, that does not mean I will not work…I’ve found FIVE simple ways to do it.
1. Holiday is work. Make work a holiday
We all know that planning and organizing
a holiday is hard work. If anyone knows how difficult it is to plan a holiday,
I do. I thought it was tough when the children were small. It gets tougher when
they are older. Managing dates, schedules, even flight timings - especially if it’s
not to one of the big metros in India - become a challenge. But you juggle
everyone’s calendars, find dates and time and plan how to get there. That’s a
lot of hard work done with oodles of enthusiasm. And now, when you are back to
work, there’s an upcoming project deadline – why not apply the same formula?
Juggle dates and times, sync calendars and match ETAs and ETDs with a smile on
your face. Enthusiasm does make a dull day brighter. And work akin to a holiday
2. Get your schedule really right
The right schedule is a tight
schedule. On a holiday? Well don’t we move to a schedule even on a holiday?
Starting from something as small as putting your Out-of-Office message,
packing, to making it to the airport on schedule, our life on a holiday still
revolves round a clock. Go to the finest property there is and you find there
are breakfast timings and lunch timings, dinner timings, pool timings, gym
timings… and also time for room service. And yes… what about the ‘free relaxing
45-minute massage’ at the Spa that was included in your package? First you pre-book
the appointment for that, then you make all effort to land up at the Spa at the
stipulated time. Really, moving pretty much to the clock. Do it with that same
smile at work and things instantly seem better. The clock remains the same,
remember?
3. Make the most of it
Now this is strange. You are at work
all day and you end the day having done not much or sometimes too much. Your
day stretches into weeks and months in much the same manner. Flowing with the
tide. But on a holiday you are on limited time. And you try to squeeze in as
much as possible in the day. Sightseeing? You start early and end late. Food?
You want to try all the local delicacies – even delve deeper and want to learn
the recipes. You plan in advance. You stick to your plan. You stretch your day.
You stretch your night. You work hard at this. This being your holiday. Did you
see that? How the lines are blurring? Work-Holiday-Holiday-Work. Now backpack
into work in the morning and approach it that way… and see what happens!
4. Break the routine. With another routine.
5. Think fresh
So I do have an iPhone 6 and
pretty much like the ad says, I take pics that scream 'Taken on an iPhone 6'.
Isn’t that what a holiday is about. The brilliance of the sights and the colors
that surround you? I think it’s also something to do with the perspective that
lowered defenses bring to a holiday. You are no longer in the sparring stance
that you are regularly in at the office. And suddenly everything is so
beautiful. Look around and you still see those bright-coloured opportunities at
work. Which reminds me of a time recently when the entire floor in my office gravitated
towards the windows because lo and behold… there was a rainbow in the sky! Holidays
help you think fresh, look at things with a new perspective and see the world
with renewed vision. Make this last. Bring it back and keep the rose-tinted
glasses of your holidays on. And soon work could (at least most of the time) seem
like a vacation – okay a stay-cation!
Happy Holidays at Work!
