Working Vacation
If there’s one thing I’ve realized after comparing my vacations to that of my friends over the years, I usually come back home sore and exhausted while they come back feeling mildly hungover and rejuvenated. Why is this you may ask? In my household, there are two parts to any vacation, the working half and the leisure half.
I recently went on a beach vacation with my family to relax for a week. Having retired 7 years ago, my parents had purchased a vacation property as their home away from home. When you think of a beach vacation, you might imagine yourself reading a book with your feet in the sand while sipping a fun umbrella drink or more actively snorkeling around looking for sea turtles. We had our fair share of those moments, but it wasn't until after we took care of the important stuff first.
Pulling up to the house on our first day, we unloaded our bags and took a moment to take in the fresh air. Not even a half hour in, my dad pulled out the lawn mower and weedwacker to start clearing the three acre property while my mom jumped back into the car to buy groceries and started meal prepping for the week. We spent the next few hours never breaking momentum. His mentality has always been to never complain and get the work done sooner rather than later. Afterwards, we drove down to the harbor to pull his boat out of storage where we scrubbed the deck and scraped the barnacles off the hull. Yes we were whipped out after the first day, but we had a beautifully landscaped yard, lots of delicious home cooked meals and a shinny power boat ready to explore the ocean for the remaining days.
Why hire someone when you can do it yourself? My Dad says to my brother after he suggested he hire someone to do all this for us. Sure, they could afford to hire a maid to clean the house or a plumber to fix the pipes, but they choose to do it themselves and take pride in learning how to maintain their property. They’re tough as nails demonstrating the importance of being self-sufficient. You have to work for nice things and then you should work to maintain those nice things.
People feel intrinsically motivated when they engage in activities that they find interesting, enjoyable, and meaningful. So vacations can be a break from your job, but should they be a break from all your interests?
Data from the 2018 American Time Use survey indicates that 30% of full-time employees report working weekends and holidays, and even when people officially have time off, that doesn’t mean they stop working. Research shows that keeping yourself busy (as opposed to doing nothing) can make you feel productive, and thereby make your work feel more meaningful, suggesting that working at a time when others are not could actually boost motivation.
-Busy Brain