Flexible office space company Regus asked 12,000 workers in 85 countries about their intentions to work during the end-of-year holidays and found a few of the year’s biggest occasions aren’t enough to keep Americans away from the office (or their smartphones). The company found:

• 64 percent of U.S. business people will work during the last week of the year.
• 56 percent of those working during this time will travel into the office to do so.
• Yet a hefty percentage of American respondents – 39 percent — believe workers will get very little done in this work time.

These numbers come on top of an another poll from RingCentral showing 70.4 percent of U.S. business owners, executives and independent pros surveyed expect to work more this holiday season than last year. Only 14 percent plan to take a real vacation, meaning a complete break from work, including work-related emails or phone calls. Filling in this dismal picture of vacation starvation is the annual doom and gloom from Mercer’s 2011 Worldwide Benefit & Employment Guidelines, which shocked exactly no one by showing workers in the U.S. have among the least generous statutory employee holiday entitlements (entitlements they don’t even take full advantage of).

What does this have to do with connectivity and the future of work? Simple: Constant connectivity and eroding work-life boundaries may be making it even more difficult for vacation-starved Americans (and even those in more vacation-friendly countries) to really get away. Just take the tiny percentage of workers RingCentral revealed will be taking a real vacation by severing their connection to work entirely as exhibit A. Add to these difficulties the seemingly endless pressure of a dire economic climate and the vacation complications caused by our increasingly international teams, which creates the need to decide which holidays, if any, remote employees are entitled to and you have a recipe for increasing levels of holiday deprivation-induced burnout.

Do you get the sense that our Americans vacation starvation is getting worse due to larger workforce trends?

Image courtesy of Flickr user Ed Yourdon.

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• Get it done. Yes, I know you have a million things to do and you are trying very hard to get them done, but now is the time to power through that task list. Having a big pile of unfinished tasks looming over me is a big contributor to my increased stress around the holidays. In addition to all of the regular work, holiday tasks like shopping and cooking can make an already overwhelming workload seem even more daunting. I could either procrastinate, which only increases my stress, or suck it up and devote some extra time to completing my task list. I suggesting spending some extra time this weekend to make a big dent in that task list with a focus on those things that you dread doing, but that must be done before the holidays. Getting the most unpleasant tasks out of the way now helps reduce stress in the long run by making the remaining tasks seem easy by comparison.
• Put it off. Now is a good time to focus on the work that really matters and the urgent tasks that must be completed during the holidays. Everything else can wait until after the first of the year. Take a really hard look at that task list and find the “nice to have” tasks that aren’t urgent and likely won’t be completed before 2011 anyway. Make a conscious effort to just move those items out of your active task list and defer them until after the holidays. Having better focus and putting off a few of the less urgent tasks can make the existing task list more manageable and less stressful for the holidays.
• Stay fit. During times of increased stress and less free time, it can be too easy to neglect our health and let our regular fitness activities slide, but this is when you really need those workouts. Hitting the gym or the running trail is a great way to reduce stress and improve your mood, especially during a time when most of us tend to overindulge a bit on all of those delicious holiday treats. If you are really pressed for time, try to combine activities with a little extra walking during that shopping trip, or turn a family gathering into a healthy after dinner stroll around the neighborhood. You can reduce your stress and burn off some of those extra cookies at the same time.
• Have fun. When we are at our busiest, it can be hard to take time out to have some fun and relax. Find a few non-holiday hobbies and make sure that you leave at least a few minutes a day to do something you enjoy that helps reduce your stress. Have lunch or coffee with a good friend or take an evening off to go to the movies. Even just spending 30 minutes with a great book to relax before bed can help you unwind and reduce your stress, which will help you sleep better and make you even more productive and less stressed the following day.
• Escape.If all else fails, have an escape plan. Maybe this is taking the easy way out, but I love to go on relaxing vacations over the holidays. I escaped the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday with a trip to Hawaii where I spent 6 days sitting in a beach chair, having fruity drinks and reading science fiction. I came back relaxed and ready to take on the rest of the holiday season. Don’t feel obligated to always have a traditional or expected holiday. If you want to do something different, interesting and less stressful, go for it!

What are your favorite tips for reducing holiday stress?

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The good news is that with a simple strategy in place, it won’t take much effort to return to your normal productivity level. Here are a few tips:

Pre-plan your schedule. Plan your post-holiday work schedule even before the holiday reunions, celebrations and other activities take over. This is the primary reason why I easily got back to my regular workload. As soon as Jan. 3 hit, all I had to do was look at the schedule I prepared two weeks earlier to see what I needed to do. Without it, I would’ve probably spent a day or two regrouping.

Work a little during your downtime. In a previous post, Darrell talked about how he uses the holidays to work. I have to admit that I agree with him. In fact, I found myself working harder than usual for a few days. If you feel that’s being too much of a killjoy, choose to work on light tasks — perhaps checking your mail or brainstorming. The point is to avoid work being overwhelming after the holidays.

Now, this doesn’t mean you’ll get up in the middle of a family gathering and start typing away in your laptop.  I waited for my family to be asleep or for the activity to die down before I started working. This allowed me to be part of the festivities, while getting some work done during times when less was happening.

Stick with your normal body clock. I know that this is easier said than done, but one of the reasons that many people feel sluggish post-holidays is that their body clocks have adjusted to a later waking-up time. If this has happened to you, make sure to try and reset your body clock back to suit your ideal sleeping hours before the regular workweek starts.

Don’t forget to relax. As Dawn recommended before, it’s important to relax. I know some people who actually spend the holidays being completely stressed out preparing gifts and celebrations. The irony is, they don’t end up enjoying their supposed “vacation time” from work. Avoid falling into that trap and catch up on your sleep.

How easy is it for you to work after a long holiday? What techniques do you use to get your productivity back to normal?

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The notion may seem anti-social, but in fact I think it has more to do with an evolutionary principle. If I seek out things that I need or run errands when there are less people about, there will be less competition for available resources, and I won’t be nearly as stressed out as I might otherwise be. Obviously, because of work schedules not everyone has the ability to do this, but it’s one of the major advantages of working from home.

While the Cat’s Away, the Mouse Will Work

The holidays are not a great time for doing much of anything. The malls are packed, transit is unbearable, and even the gym gets prohibitively busy for about three or four weeks following Christmas and New Year’s Eve celebrations. When there’s downtime for most, I spend the least amount of time on personal an leisure activities. Instead, I turn to work.

Work is the one refuge for the beleaguered loner during the holidays, for the very simple reason that almost no one else is doing any. This is especially beneficial if your job in any way involves competing with colleagues for publication space, as it does in my case, but it can also be useful in many other ways to any number different types of remote workers.

Less Distraction

During the holidays, and especially the Christmas season, I’ve noticed a significant decrease in the amount of Internet chatter going on. Twitter is a much less active place, as is Facebook, at least in my personal experience.

Even the news cycle seems to lull around Christmas, or maybe I just hear about it less because of the dip in social media activity. TV is totally bereft of any new content, and becomes a veritable wasteland of holiday special repeats and marathons of shows that last for 16 hours and can be pretty tedious, even if you’re a fan to begin with.

Your inbox fills up at a fraction of the pace you’re used to during ordinary working days, too. There was a day just recently when I received only five emails, total, for example. I can’t remember the last time that happened, but I guarantee it was long before I started making my money working online.

Less Competition

I know I already mentioned that there is less competition over the holiday period which can be good news for writers like me, but it also applies to other fields in less obvious ways. For example, holiday cover work is a great opportunity to make some extra money during a time when many people are on vacation. You’re especially well-placed to take advantage of this opportunity if you don’t yet have a family, or are semi-retired and don’t mind the time it takes away from your holiday.

In order to get some extra work over the holidays, make your employer and coworkers aware of your desire to help out long before the Christmas season actually hits. If you have to, make sure you put in some time beforehand training up and asking about how to go about doing the jobs you might be asked to cover when the time comes. If your organization is aware you know how to do the job, it’ll make their decision to use you when needed a lot easier.

A Gift for Yourself

While it can be hard to summon the motivation to go to work when everyone else around you is in the process of unwinding completely and enjoying the season, it an also be very rewarding. Just because the world slows down when the year winds down, doesn’t mean it stops completely. There’s still plenty of gears that need turning, and best of all, you’ll be in a much better position to pick and choose from a relative wealth of work.

Don’t get me wrong, I still crave a break. And a break I shall have, but it’ll be a time-shifted one, designed to take place at a time when everyone else has gone back to work.

Did you work over the holidays?

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While I’m not sure how much of my advice applies this week (since, according to the TSA, “Passengers should not expect to see the same thing at every airport”) I do have a few tips and loopholes to make your travel easier. Many of them revolve around food, since airport food can be unpredictable. Last weekend in the Columbus, Ohio airport, I was limited to the food that I brought with me and what was available in a single vending machine, as none of the stores in my terminal were open.

Smuggle Spreadable Food

I recently learned that peanut butter in a jar is a “liquid”. It seemed pretty solid to me, but that didn’t stop it being confiscated in the Seattle airport as possible liquid contraband. Dangerous stuff. However, if you spread peanut butter between crackers or bread it then becomes a “solid” and can be brought through security. This works for any other spreadable food: hummus, jelly, etc.

The Quart-size Bag isn’t Just for Shampoo and Lotion

This is a good way to smuggle small amounts of hummus, jelly, peanut butter, salad dressing, or any other condiments that you might want to have in the airport: You can put any liquids in the quart-size bag as long as you adhere to the 3.4 ounce per bottle limit, and you can squeeze everything into one bag.

Fitness Training

With all of the delays this holiday season, it can help to practice your running / sprinting before your trip just in case you need to make a tight connection. Last weekend, I managed to make a 5-minute connection in Minneapolis by sprinting between gates. Luckily, all of the running I’ve been doing lately helped me prepare. However, I did learn that running with a backpack containing a laptop and a couple of books while not wearing tennis shoes is way harder than my normal run. If nothing else, I got in a quick little workout combined with an adrenaline rush.

Your mileage may vary with these tips, but we wish you safe travels this holiday season from the WebWorkerDaily team.

What are your tips for making travel easier during the holiday season?

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Inbox Zero

I usually manage to get my inbox under control right before I take a week off during the holidays, but by the time I return to work, it has usually filled right back up with new email. This time, I’m making a real effort to keep it at inbox zero for more than a few hours. I went to inbox zero about a week ago, and I’ve managed to keep it at zero all week by spending a little time each day responding to what I can and moving everything else into areas for response or further reading while creating tasks for to-do items. By keeping up with this process during the holidays while the volume is more manageable, I hope that I’m building up habits that will help me continue to manage my email in 2010. Even if you don’t aspire to implement inbox zero over the long-term, there is something very refreshing about starting the new year with a clean inbox.

Paperwork, Planning and Finances

This is also a great time to get all your paperwork, planning and finances in order. I plan to tackle that pile of paperwork accumulating on my desk that really should be filed, and it’s a great time to get everything ready for your taxes. You should also take some time to set your goals for 2010 and come up with a plan that will help you achieve them.

Relax

Nothing helps me get a fresh start like taking a few days off to relax and recharge. It’s hard to get a great start on the year if you are overworked and exhausted. I took most of last week off to visit family, but the holidays come with their own stresses. I plan to work like mad on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to get the rest of my work done along with some paperwork and other business; however, I’m going to take a nice, long four-day weekend off at home to relax, read and hit the gym to start the new year feeling great.

What are your favorite tips for getting the new year off to a great start?

Photo by Flickr User Daniel Voyager used under Creative Commons.

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To provide you with some holiday ammunition or just a little holiday humor, here are a few of my favorite stories from the comments last year.

Deanna Zandt:

“I often try to make a joke first, it takes the weird edge off for some reason.

Them: So what do you do?
Me: I don’t know…
Them: What?
Me: I don’t know. I get up in the morning, and there’s a laptop there, and I sit at it and type things… [drift off]
Them: Um…
Me: I’m just kidding. I’m a consultant who does online strategy and builds web sites. It’s a weird job and it’s a blast.”

Steve Robillard:

“Me: ‘I am a consultant, I work mostly with higher ed.’

them: ‘Oh, so you work for yourself, I wish I could do that. I would work so much less. It must be great.’

Me: ‘Yeah except every time I try to call in sick I get a busy signal.’”

Julie:

“‘Must be nice to get to sit in front of a computer all day and surf the web.’

‘Yeah, I used to have to commute to an office to do that, but it’s much better now.’”

Travis Chillemi:

My least favorite goes like this:

Them: ‘What do you do?’
Me: ‘I am a web designer.’
Them: ‘Oh! My dentist also does web design. He/She is really good with Frontpage and stuff. He/She even has their own web site. It has something to do with Geocities…’
Me: ‘Yeah. I do dental work on the side, too. I even have my own drill and chair.’
Them: ‘Huh?’”

Taylor Brooks:

“Knowing that the conversation is probably doomed for awkwardness from the jump, I just tell people I’m in the adult film business or a drug dealer. At least you can control (or attempt) to control the awkwardness.”

Jason Glaspey:

“I just tell people that I make the internets.”

Amber Case:

“My entire family asks me to teach them search engine optimization. I want to wear a T-shirt that says ‘No, I will not optimize your web site!’”

Desirea:

“I usually just say ‘I’m a computer programmer.’ It usually scares them off of any other questions. If I get too deep, their eyes glaze over.”

John:

“I do the internets voodoo!”

cbright:

“When I get the glazed-over look, I just say I’m a part-time rodeo clown/psychologist. I’m in marketing, so I’m not actually lyin’…”

What are your favorite answers to the question: What do you do?

Photo by Flickr user Ed Yourdon used under Creative Commons

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For most freelancers, December is a slower month. Our clients are taking vacations and rarely does anyone schedule a big launch in December or January. This makes December an ideal time to get our finances in order, prepare for 2009 taxes and make any adjustments in our plans for 2010.

Everyone has a different approach to finances, taxes and planning, so rather than focus on how to do these things, I’m going to focus on questions that you should ask yourself.

• What am I missing? This is always a hard question because if you know the answer then it isn’t really missing, but it’s a critical question to ask. Look carefully at your expenses. Have you remembered to record all 12 instances of any monthly recurring expenses (hosting, online applications, phone, etc.)? What about those special cases, like home office deductions? Do you have any small income sources that haven’t been tracked (advertising, affiliates, book / white paper sales, etc.)? Can you get a head start on documenting any other tax materials? Cross-referencing with past tax forms and bank statements can help identify any missing income or expenses.
• Are my income and expenses relatively balanced? 2010 is way too late to make adjustments for 2009, so this is a critical question to look at in December while you still have time to make changes. Depending on the answer to this question, you might decide that you can afford to make a few extra business purchases (new equipment, books, etc.) or charitable contributions in 2009, or you might decide to defer some purchases to 2010. This is a great question to ask your accountant now.
• Where do I want to be in 2011 and beyond? Your answer to this question should include financial goals, career fulfillment, and personal life balance. Once you figure out where you want to be, you need to put together a plan with the steps to get you there. What additional training do you need? What expertise needs to be further developed and practiced? Are there some additional income streams that you want to pursue?

These three questions aren’t revolutionary or new, but they will hopefully serve as a nice reminder to use some of the December downtime to start thinking about wrapping up 2009 and preparing for 2010.

What other things do you do to wrap up the current year and prepare for the next?

Photo by Alan Cleaver used under Creative Commons.

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Most of us also try to take a few days off around the holidays, which can create additional time and budget constraints. For freelancers, no one actually pays you for those days off, and you still need to meet client expectations. Telecommuters and other workers still have about the same amount of work to complete with fewer days to accomplish it. Regardless of your work situation, this still means more stress during the holidays. I have a few suggestions to help you manage your stress and come out of the holidays at least as healthy and happy as you were before the holiday season.

Get Ahead

When I get stressed, my natural instinct is to procrastinate, but that will only make the situation worse. I force myself to do what I can to get ahead on any tasks that can be accomplished early to avoid a mad rush during the holidays.

For one client, I knew that holiday schedules would derail the normal approval process for my weekly writing tasks, so instead of doing a week’s worth of writing, I did a week and a half. This gets me through the first half of the week after the Thanksgiving holiday, and I can pick back up on the writing after everyone gets back from vacation.

I also finished about 90 percent of my Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. My family lives in Ohio, so I took advantage of online shopping to buy almost everything and have it shipped directly to my Mom’s house. This saves me the hassles of last-minute shopping and store crowds, and it also makes travel less stressful, since it reduces the amount of luggage required for the trip home.

Exercise

When we have the least amount of time available, it is too easy to cut out exercise and use the time to do more work, run errands, or complete other tasks. Do not be tempted to skip your workouts during the holiday season. Exercise naturally reduces stress and will help you avoid the increased stress associated with the weight gain that comes out of eating too many holiday cookies.

If you can’t find the time for your regular workouts, make sure you do something physical every day. Here are a couple of suggestions:

• Knead the bread by hand instead of using the bread maker.
• Dance in the kitchen to your favorite holiday tunes while you cook.
• Park in the last row of the shopping mall and walk, or for urban dwellers like me, do your shopping in a neighborhood where you can walk to every store.
• Take a walk with a family member and use the time to talk (also a good way to relieve stress).

Take Time Off

Take advantage of the times when your clients are on vacation to take a few days off yourself. Seriously. Take some actual time off with no client work. This works best in conjunction with the suggestion about getting ahead. I’ve been working like a mad woman for the past few days, and I plan to take Wednesday through Sunday off. OK, I’m lying a little bit. I plan to take Wednesday, Thursday and Friday completely off, but I’m secretly hoping to have time to work on some neglected non-client personal projects for at least a few hours over the weekend. These are those fun projects that I never quite have time to do, so it won’t feel like work.

Sleep

Make sure that you get plenty of sleep. While sleeping a few less hours every night might seem like a great way to get a few extra hours to finish the activities that are leaving you stressed, it will only make the problem worse. When I’m not getting enough sleep, I’m grouchy and less productive, which only increases my stress levels. Get the sleep that you need to increase the chances that you’ll be productive and accomplish more work in less time.

These are my top four tips for reducing stress during the holidays. How do you reduce holiday stress?

Image by Rick Turoczy used under Creative Commons.

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Whatever your plans, there’s a lot for the web worker to prepare before the holiday season hits and business in many parts of the world grinds almost to a halt. Here are some of the steps I’m taking to ensure things don’t go pear-shaped over the next month or two.

1. Work Plan

When time is short, I like to prepare a work plan which outlines what I need to do and how much time I have to do it in. I break those tasks down to a daily to-do-list and endeavor to stick to it. I make note of the date on which I can expect work to return to normal, so that I can ensure I’m prepared to hit the ground running when the wheels of commerce start turning again.

Like many freelancers, I’ll also be looking at my task list from a budget perspective this holiday season: How many billable hours will I need to fit in between now and when things pick up again in the new year? And where can I find work to fill any budget gaps?

2. Holiday Plan

You probably already have an idea of how much time you’d like to take off this holiday season, and how much vacation time you’ll be able to take. Once I’ve got an idea of the amount of work I have to do, I can schedule my break time to take in commitments with family and friends. But my vacation timeframe will also be affected by my colleagues’ and clients’ schedules.

We’ve all been through the frustration of working when everyone else is holidaying: you can’t get the inputs you need, you have trouble accessing information or gaining approvals — it can be a real nightmare, not to mention a complete waste of time.

Of course, depending on the types of jobs you have to do, you may find this “quiet time” while everyone else is vacationing to be a blessing for your productivity.

3. Connectivity Plan

Whether you’ll be Twittering pictures of your Thanksgiving turkey as it’s being devoured, or you’re heading for the hills, to a little place with no phone or web access, it’s fair to say that all web workers need some sort of connectivity plan for the holiday season.

For me, that plan will entail periods without connection. But work commitments will necessitate that I’m not away from my computer for more than a few days at a time. I’ll build this into my schedule as well, and try to stick to it on the basis that the break from the everyday will do me good.

Your connectivity plan may, of course, necessitate a packing list if you’re going away and need to take your gear with you, or even a wishlist of equipment you’d be happy to receive as gifts this season…

4. Goal Plan

Depending on your work and workload, you may choose, as I will, to set a rough goal plan for next year now.

Yes, now. I don’t want to sail into the new year and then start wondering what I’m going to do next. As a remote worker, I find that planning past the holiday season helps my motivation, and lets me maintain momentum through the lazy days ahead.

In some ways, it even helps me to relax over the holiday season: since I know I have things to get on with after the break, I don’t spend the time worrying about what’ll happen when the fun stops.

These are the kinds of plans I make against the ravages of the heady holiday season. How about you?

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Northern hemisphere workers face the long downhill slide into winter, while those in the southern hemisphere strive valiantly to knuckle down and get things done before the summer and associated New Year business go-slow. There’s no time for holidays or breaks: it’s all action, whether we like it or not.

So I thought now might be a good time to talk about things we can do to make ourselves feel refreshed at work, even when we’re not. They say a change is as good as a holiday, after all…

1. Change where you work.

Remote workers needn’t be stuck at the same desk day in, day out. Try the library, a cafe, a coworking space or your friend’s studio.

Find it hard to work in public places? Fine. Change where you work at home. Move your office for a week — set up a desk in a different room — or revamp, rearrange or redecorate your current workspace. Buy a new album to play while you work, or try a new radio station. Paint the walls a different color. Make some changes, and see what happens to your mood.

2. Change your schedule.

If you’re right into routine — or simply find your life staked out by regular obligations — try a different approach for a week. Maybe you’ll work like you’re on vacation, chunk your work, or simply go off grid for a day or two so you can get more done.

You may also find it refreshing to blow off those regular events for a week, and do something different. Instead of your weekly yoga class, go and see a movie. Move your designated Invoicing Morning to some other time so you can use the time to go for a swim. If you prefer, try making more lasting changes to your schedule, building in regular exercise, lunch with friends or colleagues, or early finishes to help motivate you and mix up your week.

3. Change what you eat, and when.

Celine’s recent post about tactics to make sure you eat well may already have you reconsidering the way you fuel your work day. But changing your eating habits — how often, as well as what you eat — can make a real difference to your mood and motivation.

Since the seasons are changing, you might want to embrace the new-season foods. If it’s getting cold, cook up some hearty meals. If the months are getting warmer, lighten up with salads and fresh foods. Eat in a way you haven’t before — try new recipes, new foods, new eating patterns — and see what works for you. Even something as simple as taking a regular, away-from-your-desk lunch break outside in the sunshine can make all the difference.

4. Change what you wear.

We all know that what we wear affects the way we feel. If you’ve decided to spend the morning working in a cafe, you may wear different clothes than you would if you were at home. But you don’t have to leave your workspace to justify altering your work attire.

If you’re the type to do your first hour’s work in your PJs, change the routine for a week and start the day showered, dressed, and ready to roll. If you’re the sort who wears office clothes all day, consider trying more casual attire. Change what you wear — you’ll be surprised at the effect it has on your motivation, creativity, and output.

5. Take a mental health day.

Taking a spontaneous day off can be a great way to refresh and re-energise. It certainly breaks up the week, and can be a good motivator if you’re feeling sluggish about getting things done. A mental health day can be a soothing or adventurous as you like — it’s a day of complete freedom, so make the most of it!

I’m often trying different things to spice up what can otherwise be the monotonous work week. I like spontaneity, and no matter how engaging or inspiring our work is, we all need a change some time.

What do you do to boost your morale and motivation when things get dull?

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Apparently, some of us won’t be making the most of the holiday because of the economic downturn. And of course, whether we’re at home or away, a large portion of us will remain connected, checking email, catching up on reading or research, or getting ahead on deadlines. Like we do every year, even though we know we’re supposed to be enjoying a well-earned rest.

If you’d like to do something different with your Labor Day, why not consider stepping back from your work, your web connection, and your professional zeal, and spend at least part of the day objectively reviewing the place work has in your life right now?

Keeping Work In Its Box

So, you’re prepared to spend a perfectly nice late-summers’ public holiday at work. Sure, we can all make excuses that justify this kind of thing to ourselves. But really: is working this one day that important?

I’ve always liked the idea of “keeping my work in its box” — I’m careful that it doesn’t take over my life, because, while I enjoy my work, I also enjoy things that aren’t work. Since humans seem to be more likely to spend time doing things we think we should be doing, rather than those we simply enjoy doing, my keep-it-in-its-box philosophy is usually more necessarily applied to my work than it is to my non-work life. But I know that not everyone shares this philosophy.

Most of the people I know who are willing to sacrifice downtime for uptime define themselves, to a large degree, by their work. They are their business, or their profession, or their role within their organization. Left without their RSS feeds, emails and task lists, they’re at a loss to identify with the person they actually are. Unless they’re responding to the latest email or tweeting about their new product launch, they feel they don’t exist.

Are you this person? Think about who you are outside of work — in your personal life, and in your private life. How do you see yourself? And what do you want? These are big — if basic — questions, and they’re important. They may help you identify if there’s an imbalance in the amount of time or energy you devote to your work.

What Else is There?

If you feel you need to wrestle your work back into its box, there’s no shortage of advice on the topic. The intriguing fad that is decluttering (a.k.a. simplifying your life) is just one approach — but what if you don’t feel exactly overwhelmed by commitments, demands or things outside of work?

Indeed, it seems that many people look beyond work and wonder what else is out there. Your friends are busy, you’re not good at sports, and you can’t afford a fancy art-school drawing class. So what is there?

To answer this question, stop thinking about cookie-cutter options and start thinking about the life experiences you’d like to have more of. Perhaps you’d like to be around people more, given that remote work can be such a solo pursuit. Perhaps you’d like to have more time with your family, to travel more, to do something that takes you away from your computer, or to do some activity each day that really gets your blood flowing.

Thinking about your interests in the abstract like this, rather than as a series of concrete options, can open up possibilities you may not have entertained otherwise. Doing something that gets your blood flowing could entail anything from going for a swim to becoming involved in competition debating. The same applies to getting away from your computer: would cooking classes interest you? Spanish lessons? A pet Airedale? Meditation? Woodworking? A decent novel?

Getting Started

Once you have a goal, you might want to think about how you’ll achieve it. This doesn’t have to be a big deal: you may need to block out time in your schedule to pursue a new interest; perhaps you’ll spend your Labor Day afternoon calling friends and family and arranging to meet up over a meal; it may be as straightforward as committing yourself to finishing work by 6pm each night, so you can get to the local pool for 20 laps before it closes.

Whatever the case, you need to have a basic plan that’ll help you pursue these interests, and put you on track to enjoy more of the experiences that you want to have.

What does work mean for you? Do you define yourself by it, or can you “keep it in its box”, and prioritize life beyond it?

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Photo by Flickr user kcphotos used under Creative Commons

A traditional 4th of July holiday celebration includes picnics or barbecues with family and friends, which can mean that you will most likely be faced with the dreaded question: “So, what do you do?” from your less technical friends and family. I always struggle with how to answer this question, so I encourage you to go back to my December post and browse the comments to get a few innovative suggestions for dealing with this question.

This is mostly a low-tech holiday, so some of us may start going through tech withdrawal. You might need to find creative ways to work your technology into the day. The easiest way is to pull out your fancy digital camera and experiment with some of the less well known settings while making it look like you are snapping a few pictures. You can also use your phone to look something up, while sneaking a peak at email or your favorite social networking site.

For those of you who really aren’t good at taking time off, you can fake it. Pretend to take a day off while really planning for a day of quiet holiday productivity. Since everyone thinks that you are off work, you might be able to get some real work done.

Don’t take this post too seriously. Take some time off this weekend and enjoy yourself!

What are your tips for surviving the holiday?

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Stay with other family. The first week is going well as my younger two kids take turns visiting Grandma who lives an hour away. Having one kid at home and one at Grandma’s takes away any chances of them fighting. One gets all of Grandma’s attention and the other enjoys a calmer mom who doesn’t have to play referee.

Enroll in camps and activities. Many parents, like Mary Shaw, enroll their kids in day and sleep-away camps. Some of those with babies and toddlers keep their children in daycare, just like during the school year.

Hang with kids while staying connected. Daniel Schutzsmith, director of client happiness with Core Industries, sets a schedule for working. He relies on mobile communications so he can take his kids to the park, the mall or for a stroll. “I’ve realized that it is OK to work from home, and every client I have talked with appreciates it that I’m a father, a husband and a web worker,” says Schutzsmith.

Send the kids outside. Rachell Coe of 4 the Grapes not only deals with kids at home, but also all the neighborhood kids come to her place daily. She only lets the other kids come over at a scheduled time. However, they must go straight to the backyard and play there. It distracts her when kids constantly open and close the front door, so her kids go in and out their bedroom windows in her one-story home. For those with two-story homes, maybe making them use the back door will be less distracting for you.

Take your office outdoors. Who says only the kids should enjoy the fresh air? While kids play around, you can catch up on work. “Just be sure to set up somewhere shady and far enough away from water and dirt to keep your equipment running smoothly,” says Linsey Knerl, Wise Bread senior writer. Also, see the tips in Mike’s post, “How to Use Your Laptop Outside“.

Make a deal with other parents. Unfortunately, many parents are home because they’re out of jobs. Melanie M. Jocson, president of Virtual Partners Group, has out-of-work neighbors with a pool. She plans to work out something with them. Also, parents can take turns having play dates.

Cut work hours. A popular option is to have shorter hours or work fewer days a week. A lucky few can take the entire summer off.

Encourage kids to work off energy. Plenty spend too much time playing video games or fighting with siblings. Pick an earlier time of day to let them go run, ride a bike, and burn up some energy to prevent them from getting too rowdy indoors.

Hire older kids to help. Jennifer Fink has to keep her kids occupied year-round because she homeschools them while freelancing from home. “Consider hiring a preteen to come play with your younger kids while you work; you’re in the house, so you’re available for emergencies, but he or she can keep the kids occupied. Alternately, consider hiring a high school or college kid for a couple hours a week,” says Fink.

Work during quiet times. “Don’t be overly concerned with getting everyone up and at ‘em exactly the same time each day. Let lazy sleepers sleep, early risers rise and try to get the majority of your work done while it is still quiet and everyone is most rested,” says Knerl.

Let them work in the office. Even during the school year, my youngest often joins me in my office at a little desk or on the floor. He colors or writes in his workbook. I love having him near me. When he interrupts too often in needing help with worksheets, I either switch to easier work tasks or ask him to do something else that doesn’t require my help.

I consider myself lucky during times like this. When the kids get too noisy, I can turn off my hearing aids for instant quiet!

How do you survive summer with kids when you work at home?

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Just last week I was speaking to a new neighbor who runs an interstate consulting business from his barn. But when I asked if he had any vacations planned, he shook his head. “No,” he said, “when you have your own business, you don’t really get vacations.”

I know plenty of people like this guy. They have the cash for a break, but they just can’t seem to make the time to get away. It’s not surprising: If you don’t get paid leave, taking a vacation involves a number of issues. But if you can get over these hurdles, you’ll be on track to check out and kick back…

1. Deadlines
We all have deadlines to meet, whether we’re working on short-term jobs or months-long contracts. Your clients engaged you to do the job in a certain timeframe, and your timeframes will inevitably depend — at least in part — on their timeframes. If your clients are like mine, they probably expect you to be around to support them throughout the process.

When I’m trying to schedule a vacation, I usually plan it well in advance, when I can see the end of a contract and can give fair warning to any ongoing clients. I don’t usually wrap up a job and get on the bus the next day, though — you, too, might want to allow a few days or a week after you deliver before you leave, just so you can provide any post-contract support (alterations, bug-fixes, etc.) to your client.

2. New work
OK, so you’ve scheduled your break to commence a week after your current contract ends. Great! But wait…When this contract’s over, shouldn’t you already be well and truly looking for the next one?

Most of us start looking for the next job sometime before the current one’s finished. And once you have a fish on the line, it can be hard to try to delay a project’s start date by an extra two weeks so you can take time off. It can cost you the project if a competing contractor is ready to start immediately. And few of us want to pass up on a paying job so we can spend money — even if it is an exciting foreign currency.

To stave off these feelings of income-related panic, I usually save more than I need for my holiday so that I have something to live on when I get back and I’m drumming up the next job. If I get a few irons in the fire before I go, I make sure from the outset that my potential clients know that I’m taking a break and when I’ll get back. That way, we can schedule the job with my break in mind, and avoid disappointment.

What about the client who wants you to work on a job and simply cannot wait until you get back? If this is a past client, I might consider asking a friend who’s in the same line of work if they’ll consider this one project, then speak to the client about using my associate for the job. This gives me some certainty that my client will come back to me for the project after this one.

If it’s a brand-new client, obviously I’d have to weigh the job, projected income and market situation (i.e., how much work is on offer) against how much I want to go on holiday, and how much it would cost to change my plans. If I’ve saved enough to see me through a few weeks when I get back from my trip, I’ll usually pass up on the job and take the break — holidays are too rare to postpone without very good reason!

3. Client service and administration
The burden of ongoing client service, maintenance, or administration tasks like chasing up invoices or managing subcontractors can shackle you to your work if you let it. If there are tasks that need to be done while you’re away, the solution is delegation.

If you have a friend you can trust who’s in the same industry, as I do, they may well be able to help you out by addressing client issues in your absence. If you don’t know anyone personally who could help you out like this, you might consider contracting the work out to an organization that provides the appropriate services in your field.

Finding a reliable stand-in might be challenging — and add some serious time to your trip preparation — but once you’ve found a good service provider, you’ll know you can use them again for future holidays, if you get sick, and so on. It’s worth the effort!

If you have a close team, you might be able to ask your most trusted subcontractor to do the day-to-day team management. If you need someone to chase invoices on your behalf, ask your accountant. (If you don’t have one, now’s the time to get one.) If there are tasks that must continue while you’re away, you need to find someone to do them.

4. Dedication
Don’t underestimate the importance of being dedicated to your vacation. Yes, there are many, many cases in which I’d reschedule my holiday for a particular client or project, depending on my circumstances. But the fact is that, overall, if you don’t prioritize time off alongside your work, you’ll never get away.

Holidays can be a great opportunity to spend time with family, expand your horizons and your perspective on life, and learn about the world. If you ask me, these things are as — if not more — important than the daily grind.

Once I’ve solved these issues, I’m usually all set to head off into the wild blue yonder. What’s your strategy for making sure you get a vacation every so often?

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