Working from a beach chair – 5 main challenges of workation

Workation – can it work?

Until recently, it was hard to imagine that employees can react with enthusiasm to the vision of performing work duties during summer vacation. But since the pandemic, employees have been willing to take advantage of flexible work options, even at the expense of their pay. Despite the difficult beginnings of remote work, we have become accustomed to the intersection of two spheres of life: professional and private. And we are becoming increasingly conscious of our mental health, not letting work take control of our lives. Experts even speak of a move away from the unrealistic work-life balance toward work-life blending. And workation, the premise of which is to combine work and vacation, seems to fit perfectly into this concept. 

What is workation all about?

It is difficult to give clear-cut rules describing the phenomenon of workation, as the details are usually decided between the employer (or principal) and the employee, and the concept is new and flexible. Typically, work from anywhere in the world takes several forms: 

• Short-term work – a few days working on a paradise beach or in a café in Paris, usually combined with sightseeing or other “after hours” activities. Short-term workation is sometimes opted for by employees who extend their “traditional” vacation by a week or two, performing their duties remotely while the family continues to enjoy the vacation. 

• Medium-term work – usually lasts a few weeks or a few months. The employee works from a single location of their choosing or changes destinations. 

• Long-term work – when an employee decides to stay and work outside of their home location for a year or more. 

The latter two often require a work permit or a special work visa. Many countries have already simplified the procedures for granting them (e.g., Barbados, Costa Rica, or Spain), offering so-called remote-work visas. In addition, it is a good practice to agree with the employer on detailed rules, scope, and working hours during workation, even before departure. This will prevent misunderstandings and allow you to make the most of your time.   

What are the biggest challenges of workation?

Although the vision of working from some more or less distant place in the world seems very attractive, workations are not for everyone. And it’s not just that certain types of work can only be done stationary. Even people who work remotely daily need to be aware of the challenges posed by workation. And these are: 

• Communication – the difficulties can occur when employees need to keep abreast of company events all the time or to follow and react to any decision made. Access to email alone may not be enough. Different time zones, Internet connections (WiFi in hotel rooms!), and telephone costs may also be a limitation. 

• Maintaining productivity and proper engagement level – in a place where you usually go for leisure, it is more difficult to stay focused and fully committed to your duties. Added to this is the adaptation process, which can take several days or even several weeks for different people. If you find it difficult to adapt to change, it can take a long time to reach your previous level of productivity. 

• Work-time management – workation requires highly developed skills of self-management in time, planning and focus, despite distractions and unfavorable working conditions (such as noise).  

• Separation of work and leisure time – when work and private life intersect, it’s harder to set clear boundaries and stick to them. Thus, one can miss an important phone call because one has just decided to go swimming. Or, conversely, fail to enjoy leisure time, receiving constant notifications from the company. Then it is easy to get overworked and, consequently, burnout. 

• Lack of “real” vacations – during workation, we are still at risk of overwork and workaholism and related diseases, such as stroke or heart attack. A friendly environment can even encourage excessive hours spent with a laptop on your lap or a phone in your hand. Taking a temporary break from work responsibilities is important for maintaining mental and physical health and should not be abandoned. 

How to avoid the pitfalls that workation can bring? First, by planning everything thoroughly and making sure that this form of work is suitable for you. Second, setting clear rules with the employer that will prevent any abuse (such as not giving an employee a full vacation leave). Third, investing in modern technology connecting the employee with their co-workers will allow the employee to perform their duties well, no matter where. Meeting these three conditions will bring us closer to reaping the full benefits of our dream workation. And there are quite a few of them.