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What’s ‘Balance’ on the Family ‘Workation’?
By Jeff Zbar | July 19, 2008
If you took a family vacation, and told your family you’d be bringing your laptop and BlackBerry along, would they roll their eyes and mumble frustrated rumblings under their breath? “And this is different from your home office HOW?” they might wonder…
Would they curse that they’re losing Dad or Mom — Again! — to work sessions on the road? Would they bemoan your addiction to the “Crackberry,” or roll their eyes everytime you powered up the tablet PC?
That could have been the case with Home Office Highway. Yet thankfully, everyone’s been on board (no pun intended) with this “Vocation Meets Vacation” RV experience.
Before we left, we had The Talk about what the trip was all about. If we want to take three weeks on the road, Daddy would need to work. He’ll try not to interfere with family events and vacation experiences, but work’s gotta get done.
Setting those expectations was nothing new and it wasn’t hard. My BlackBerry has been a fixture hidden in my pants pocket for as far back as I can remember. I try to check it on the sly, slipping in peeks at my inbox when no one’s looking. If I have to reply to a message, I’ll be brief. If a call comes in, I check Caller ID; If I have to take the call, I walk a few feet away.
Using a handheld PDA or email device is not about running your business from it; it’s about Getting (little) Things Done when you’re not at your desk. An email here, a well-timed phone call there. It keeps the business’s course straight and true, like trimming the sails without frustrating the crew.
My family’s come to expect all this. And since they realize that it’s either Dad brings his BlackBerry, or there could be no vacation at all, they’re OK with that.
It certainly is better than the alternative.
Topics: Personal Organizing |