Workation Wonderland: My Experience with a Working Vacation (Part 1)

Uwe: Tanja, why did you decide to take a workation in September? Was there a particular reason or occasion for this decision?

Tanja: Yes, for one, I’ve always wanted to try out workation and take a longer break from my job. Four weeks is, of course, quite a long time. I just wanted to experience it for myself, because you should first practice what you preach. This is particularly important to me, both in my consulting work and in my interim management activities. 

It was my curiosity and the idea of spending a workation in a summer cottage by the sea: working during the day, being at the beach, exploring the area in the afternoon and at the weekends. Another reason was that I had previously moved to new offices close by. My team just returned from working from home to a permanent office. And two new co-workers started their jobs in October. 

So, for me, October was significant and a new beginning in this respect, which is why I wanted to have everything ready before then. With the new offices in the Frankfurt area, we wanted to leave working at home behind. We had been looking for a place where we could meet regularly to work in a type of co-working space and have fixed team meetings. The office manager, for example, is now on site daily. This was the appeal behind it all.

Uwe: Which goals did you set for your workation, both professionally and personally?

Tanja: Last year, I worked on my book manuscript at a summer cottage, exactly where I spent my four-week workation this year. Afterwards, the manuscript was forwarded to Wiley, the publisher. I remembered this vacation place well on the Baltic Sea, surrounded by nature and the countryside. The location had been particularly important for me with delivering the manuscript. 

For 2023, I had set goals to make progress for the new staff and to reorganize my company, DGC. I planned the tasks each of us would take on and which team structures we needed to develop. This meant that DGC had a lot of development and change management work to do. 

At the same time, I was looking after a very demanding client. I didn’t expressly mention that I was staying in a vacation home, but continued my work as usual. The aim was to avoid confusing my clients. 

No one noticed it at all, also partly thanks to the background design of Microsoft Teams. I was always there 120% for my client, which was my biggest concern. How would clients react? Would it be too unusual for them? Yet, as I said, nobody noticed. The output was there, so everything was very successful at this point.

Personally, I just wanted to be in a different place, i.e. in my favorite place, go on walks with my husband and our dog, and meet new people outdoors. It all worked out well for me. Of course, situations did occur where I sat at my desk while the others went on fun outings. In moments like these, I thought I’d rather be in workation rather than normal work mode. Workation does requires a lot of discipline.

Uwe: How did you organize your work and integrate it into your vacation? Which tools and strategies did you use?

Tanja: Well, my work routine was pretty normal from Monday to Friday. Of course, it was heavily influenced by the appointments I had with my customers otherwise. On one Saturday, I even gave a presentation on the subject of digitization in purchasing. Otherwise, it was a normal nine-to-six workday from Monday to Friday. Occasionally, I spent my lunch break at the harbor, which was pleasant. 

In terms of tools, I handled everything through MS Teams. The client I was working for at the time used Teams for everything, be it messages, the schedule, files, agile boards, chats, or various channels. This means that you could work from a different location without any problems if you had a good Wi-Fi connection. It actually went well.

I made the effort to disconnect my workstation every evening and set it up again the next morning. The room with the desk had two doors that could be closed. I didn’t want to see any work in the evening or at the weekend except for the one Saturday. That stopped me from just quickly reaching for my laptop to take care of something. 

As an independent business owner, I normally work more hours in terms but everything still went well. This is an important insight to integrate into your normal work routine later. You don’t have to work around the clock. Since we’re all experiencing digital stress due to digitization, this is a critical insight.

Uwe: How did the connection between work and leisure change during your workation? Did you draw clear lines between the two areas and if so, how did you maintain them?

Tanja: I set clear limits. I have to say that towards the end I would have liked to have had a week of vacation to relax properly. I hadn’t been away this year, which got me thinking. 

As a result, I would rather keep vacation and work separate. I don’t want to combine them this way. By managing my schedule with clients and the strategic tasks I had set for my company, my day was clearly structured. As I mentioned earlier, I disconnected my laptop, screens and everything in the evening so I wouldn’t be tempted to upload an email again. After work I had time off.

I also keep my office in my handbag since I use my smart phone for both clients and my company. I have everything under control with Microsoft Teams. Nevertheless, I did leave my smart phone at home a few times when we took the dog for a walk on the beach.

Uwe: How did you manage your work-life balance during your workation? Which activities or routines helped you to relax?

Tanja: Well, first thing in the morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee in the beautiful fruit orchard at the cottage. Then, I strolled through the garden and sat in the sun for a while — just “relaxed” as you would say. My morning routine was always the start of my day. During my lunch break, I would go back to the harbor, sit in the sun, and mingle with the people. That was also great, even if it was just to sit in a wicker beach chair and look out over the water. It was very enjoyable. 

In any case, we always took the dog to the beach in the evening. The sun didn’t set until late in the evening and the beach wasn’t crowded. We enjoyed the wonderful, long walks along the beach and the lighthouse in the distance. 

In the evening, we either had a barbecue at the cottage or went out for a delicious meal and let the evening wind down. Then, the next day started again with the first cup of coffee.

Uwe: So what challenges did you face during the workation? And how did you handle them?

Tanja: The biggest challenge and excitement were on the first day making sure that the Wi-Fi worked as planned so that I could operate effectively. It wouldn’t have been possible without a well-functioning Wi-Fi. One of my concerns beforehand was the technology, particularly in relation to client interactions. I wanted to make sure that operations went smoothly and that the client wasn’t subjected to any restrictions that could cause an inconvenience. 

This was also true for the lecture I gave on the one Saturday. The challenge was to ensure that the technology worked smoothly. I always carried out a technical test on site beforehand. Especially when it came to matters concerning DGC, my IT expert supported me. Once the IT tests were completed, everything worked perfectly.

One day, a team of gardeners came by unexpectedly to do the garden while I was on a call. I hadn’t ordered them; the landlord of the cottage had been so kind to arrange it. That may have caused a brief moment of surprise, but you also experience moments like these in everyday business life. It’s something you just deal with.

In Part 2, the interview will continue with Uwe and Tanja talking about her workation last September. Among other things, they talk about distractions, disruptions, her surroundings during the workation, and tips or advice she would give others on the subject.