A new study shows that 1 in 5 people take their laptop on vacation with them and double that number check work email while they're technically "off" work:
The electronic gear was most commonly brought along by younger people - one in four below age 40 brought laptops, compared to 15 percent of those 50 to 64 and even less for older people. Reasons vacationers performed work-related tasks include an expectation that they be available; a worry about missing important information; or in some cases the enjoyment of staying involved, according to analysts and some of those surveyed.Is taking time completely off a thing of the past? Vote in our informal Lifehacker reader poll after the jump.
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You down with this whole working vacation thing or do you curse the day cell phones and laptops made everyone available any time? Let us know in the comments.
I don't work when I'm off. That's the point of not being at work. My job isn't my life. It's my job.
When I'm off for holidays, I'm completely offline and unreachable, which gives me the courage to occasionally do the same when I'm just off for myself. I'm freelance, so when I shut down, I risk potential income. But for the occasional day off that's truly relaxing, it's worth it.
Ok so confession, I actually took my laptop on my honeymoon BUT I did leave my cell phone off the entire time (did you know that there is a voicemail size limit for cell phones?)
I brought my laptop on my most recent vacation and responded to a few e-mails to my coworkers so I'd feel connected, but I mostly just filtered through the incoming mail so I wouldn't waste 3 hours doing it upon my return.
I just spent a week in Florida with my family and even though I had my laptop and cell phones with me, I ignored all the work calls (even emergency pages from IT) and only used the laptop for GeoCaching and for directions via Streets & Trips.
I liked that feeling of being free so much, I think I'll do it every time!
Like Grungydan said, "My job isn't my life. It's my job."
On my last vacation, I relaxed on the beach, sipped Mai Tais, and never once checked my e-mail or phone messages.
It was glorious.
The lines between my 'job' and my personal life/'hobbies' are very blurred, so they go hand in hand. Which means I'll be taking my laptop on holiday for both.
I tend to take my laptop everywhere I go, but that's because I'm a historian and writer and I never know when inspiration will hit. I can also continue to browse and keep track of my favorite RSS, like here. What I will not do is do "work work", such as write articles or books that have a deadline when I'm off. Also I will not answer work emails, or I'll just answer saying that I'll get back to them when I come back. If there is a fire, I may extinguish it. Or I may not and let the office burn a bit. Depends on how I feel.
When I go spend a week with my sister later this month, I will not be taking my laptop, cause she does not have internet access on her farm.
As a professor, I'm on "vacation" nearly four months out of the year. My spring break this year was spent in the library. My Memorial Day was spent grading papers. Labor Day, I'm usually preparing syllabi. And during the summer months, I have to work on the research that gets put on the back burner during the academic year. It seems that the laptop always goes with me so I can jot notes on my next article while on the plane to visit family, etc. Fortunately, my research takes me to Italy almost every year :)
For longer vacations (i.e. one month, two weeks) I like to stay in touch with whats happening. But, for long weekends I prefer to really stay unplugged. I need the time where I am really off.
I typically take my laptop with me or find someplace to check email on the road. I host my clients' websites, so if a server goes down I need to know about it.
I'm not available to client's during my off time, though. I don't answer the cell phone and I don't respond to emails. There has to be a line.
As a lifelong code geek it's hard to tell when my work stops and my playtime starts. Would a novelist who carries a notebook everywhere he goes be taking his work with him? I like to type like musicians like to beat out a tune with sticks or strum the strings of a guitar. Sometimes I write down ideas for magazine articles, sometimes I outline business plans, something I make blog posts, sometimes I write code. I just like to be connected. So, is that work?
My geekiest moment came when I took my laptop to the Cayman Islands. Sitting at poolside, hacking away. Loved it. Woke up once at 5am to watch the sunrise while hacking code. Bliss. Little did my then pregnant with our first child wife know that I was writing a daily diary of our every experience to give to her as a present when the baby was born. Several times I had to close the monitor in a hurry as she looked at the screen to ask what I was working on.
I always bring a laptop on vacation, but mostly for my own personal use. It's a convenience it's hard to do without (even if I have most of the same functionality on my phone). I've never owned a personal laptop, so a work laptop is the only portable solution.
I never do work or check e-mail during vacation, but if I'm out for a week or more I always process all my email 1-2 days before I go back to make sure I have buffer space for any emergencies that might be lurking to pounce on my return.
Ah, work life balance. I currently am in a sales position with a "virtual" company. This company has major focus on work-life balance, but from what I have found is that does not apply to sales people. If I am to try to use some of my 28 days a year vacation I have to work while away as I carry a quota that does not change if I decide to take time off. Some times this can be a real stress on the family vacations. Last year we took our Daughter to Disney Land and I was standing in lines for rides working to close deals.
I have found several articles on this site that have been invaluable to me as I work towards a real work-life balance.
For me, many things play into the equation.
First, what type of "vacation" am I on? My work is connected to the academic year so I have a week vacation built-in the week following graduations. Work had plied up over the semester and once we reopen for the summer, work will keep coming. In such cases, I'll stop in the office, work from home all-day, etc.
If I'm taking a personal day, I don't do anything I don't want to do. I like having a clean inbox, so I'll respond to an e-mail here or there if I feel like doing it. My officemates are great about not contacting someone on personal days, so if they call, I answer since it is usually a life-or-death level emergency.
I'm taking a 10-day vacation to Italy this summer. I plan on taking my laptop so I can download/backup the millions of pictures and videos I'll probably take and to do some personal writing on the plane if I get board. I will not check voicemails or e-mails. The people who need to know will have the hotel's number if hell breaks loose.
We camp a lot and generally there is no wireless acccess nor electrical hookup, so I never work from the tent. It's quite sad though that our last booking asking if we'd like internet access along with hot and cold running water. I almost gave in...but resisted.
Now, where's my Blackberry, I've got to post to my vacation blog, rightaway.
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.....My company is really good about leaving folks alone while they're on vacation. I'm off this week, in fact. I heard that my replacement has already called off sick for this whole week. It might be amusing to be a fly on the wall and watch the chaos. The next supervisor in line is a guy who was in labor pool less than a year ago...
part of working on the web and getting to work from home means a more flexible schedule that's great, including no commute. part of it means, at least for me, being more available outside of 9-5.
plus, Lifehacker has often advocated a side job. they really make it hard to take a *complete* vacation...
I usually end up bringing my laptop to offload pictures from my digital camera each night, and maybe send a few out to friends/family if I've got net access. It's a nice way of letting family know that the trip is going well, and let them see some pics of wherever I was the last couple of days.
I bring a laptop on vacation for recreational purposes (photos, movies, music). I generally don't give my cell number to work-related people, and so it is also just for family and friends.
I love my tech when I vacate, but work per se stays at the office.
I'm a freelance writer, so I usually pitch my vacations, or at least some aspect of them. So yes, I bring my laptop. If I didn't, I'd be writing everything on a yellow legal pad anyway.
My life is my work, and I like it that way.
Christ, I'm so sick of people whining about how technology is ruining their lives because they can't "get away"!! (Not that I'm saying any of you above are whining, I'm just talking about this whole pop culture "Do cell phones keep you TOO in touch?" tired old story.)
I'd take a laptop with me if I had one, but only to download photos, share music, etc. Might check work e-mails, but wouldn't do anything about them. :)
It's not like people are shackled to their laptops. They bring them because they want to, or need to due to their work. If they really feel stressed out by needing to be on call all the time for work, then get another job, or care less! :) Turn your cell phone off if people keep calling you! It's your technology, you can make it do what you want it to. :)
I have a separate profile on my laptop for when I'm on vacation (this is nice for those, ahem, "sick days," too). It has it's own list of blocked websites (work webmail, most notably) and I don't have access to certain work-related programs (evolution, OOo). Basically, my vacation profile has a web-browser and my address book--so I can remember to send postcards. ;)
I never carry a cell phone, so I'm not at risk of being reached that way...ever.
I barely work when I'm at work, why would I take it home with me?
I understand some people have jobs that require them to have a laptop they can have with them at all times, but I must say that the day I'm given a laptop and expected to do work outside of work at this particular job is the day I quit.
Sure, I check email while I'm on holiday, but I also check on my personal life while I'm working. So it all evens out.
Yes, I like to weed out the junk and get a heads up on what awaits me when I get back. Forewarned is forearmed.
I'm a lawyer so generally I check in via email and cell phone when I'm on vacation, but it kind of depends on where I am. If I'm visiting family, I usually welcome the excuse to take a break from them by checking messages. :) However, I just got back from two glorious weeks backpacking through Turkey and didn't check a single work email while I was gone.
In the long run, though, I've found it easier to stay in touch with work while I'm gone - it saves nasty surprises when I get back.
At my old job, it was like "what's a vacation?". I literally had no days off (with the exception of 95% of national holidays that we had off) for the two years I was there, and my cell phone was ringing 24/7 during peak season.
Now that I'm at a more rewarding job, I will be taking 3 weeks off starting later this month - and there is no way that I will even be thinking about work while I'm having fun in Nice/Cannes/Paris/Aix!!!
I probably started my marriage off on the wrong foot by working on the office's mail server from our beach-front honeymoon suite. She was sleeping with a headache at the time though, so I wasn't in any imminent danger. We was also four hours late getting there because I had to swing by the office on the way and fix up something. Sure my wife of one day at that point wasn't too happy, but they gave me a bonus for it; and given the typical financial status of most young (24) newlyweds, that was very useful.
I know it sounds terrible, which leads me to why I choose to stay so connected to work. To put it simply, nine days out of ten I'm not there, and most days I'm asleep while the suns out. Trying to deal with the world by "normal" means when you have type-1 bipolar and delayed sleep phase syndrome is so much more stressful than having to stay connected 24/7. Being able to utilize technical gadgetry to accomplish things whenever/wherever works well to offset my not being able to be awake during most of the day, or even able to deal with people some times. If I combine automation, monitoring, alerts, and technology such as high-availability to minimize the danger of immediate problems, most people don't even realize I'm not there.
What timing... I'm on vacation right now, reading my newsfeeds. Yes, the line between work and fun can be blurry sometimes.
I have a deal with my wife. I can take the laptop on holiday whenever I like. If I do, it's going in the hotel pool as soon as we get there.
It's good that she keeps me honest about not working on vacation. I work hard enough when I'm at work that I feel entitled to forget about the place for my five weeks of annual leave.
Depends on which work I'm talking about. School work? Often, even if it's just readings. Regular work? No, though I'll check my email (work email is forwarded to my regular address) and read updates on my days off (saves time when I'm actually working). I also do freelance design a bit, and unless I've warned every client and potential client I'll be away for x amount of days, I pretty religiously try to keep up. Most of my clients are small businesses and parents (it's dance costume design), so I feel like blowing them off is really mean.
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