Workation

With the economy reeling, one of the current trends in vacationing is the much-ballyhooed "Staycation". A portmanteau of "stay-at-home vacation", the Staycation is a low-cost alternative to taking the family on a road trip to a traditional destination. I did not make this up.

With gas prices and hotel fares what they are these days, the Staycation is becoming more and more popular. Staycationers take their alloted time off work and stick around locally - enjoying the freedom from the office - but avoiding the stress, cost and headaches associated with travel.

This year I used up all my vacation and personal time in caring for my sick wife (thanks, cancer) so I'm taking the Staycation a step farther:

This week I'm on Workation.

The concept of a Workation is simple. It's a vacation that happens to be spent at work. Instead of sun and sand, it's flourescence and low pile commercial carpeting.

So I've cleared my Outlook Calendar of all meetings, tasks and deadlines and have mentally checked out for the week. When you're kinda quiet and unassuming (for the most part) around the office like I am, you can slip through the cracks completely unnoticed. Just flying below the radar. Zoning out.

I don't have to pay a thing for this mental holiday. In fact, they pay me. This, I think, is brilliant.

There are challenges with the Workation. For example, the boss. Avoidance and misdirection is the simple solution. I kinda just hang out in the conference room with the door shut. File folder in hand, shuffling papers, murmuring to myself. But in my mind, it's breakfast in bed and hot stone massages.

Every few hours I'll make an appearance around the printer, pressing buttons, cursing at the feeder tray, pretending it's malfunctioning. Then I'll retreat back to my office for more relaxing Workationing. The phone's forwarded to voice mail, so when clients or co-workers call, they just think I'm on it. The desk chair is no hammock, but it'll do for a quick snooze.

The nature of my job allows me to set my own schedule and work at my own pace. I'm not micromanaged or checked upon. So this week is total ease. Aimless. Paceless.

Workation.