An article from yesterdays Wall Street Journal caught my attention, and for obvious reasons. The article “Why Relaxing Is Hard Work” shed some light on what is an eternal struggle for me, and presumably for many of you. For all of my desire to vacation and live a vacation home centric lifestyle, I don’t relax well. It’s not that I don’t want to relax, and it’s not like I don’t often have the time to relax, but more times than not I just can’t do it. Such is the life of a Realtor I suppose, constantly searching for the next deal while working to keep the current deals moving towards the finish line. Vacations can be tricky for anyone in sales, but they can be equally tricky for any professional who is not able to “punch out” at the end of a day or workweek. The Wall Street Journal article aims to give workaholics a bit of advice on how to detach, and they succeed in providing some tidy little ideas. For the sake of this commentary, I’m only talking about weekend vacations to Lake Geneva, not the sort of week-long vacations that one might take to a southern locale in the dead of winter.
My terrific idea to eliminate work related stress while at your vacation home? Keep an office in that vacation home. If there’s space for a dedicated room to be labeled an office, that’s great, but it’s unnecessary. An office need only be a computer with internet, a fax line (or employ efax or another web based faxing program), and a desk. The desk needn’t be a complete office desk, as one of my particular favorites is a small fold-top writing desk with wireless printer and fax tucked away in a nearby closet. It seems strange to think that the way to relax is to build an office into your vacation home, but if you have a mind like mine (my sympathies), it makes perfect sense.
I famously spent the past week marooned in the north woods of Wisconsin. That vacation was not as enjoyable as it could have been, and it wasn’t just because of the rain and the squirrel eating fish. It was because I was without internet access. Sounds trivial I know, but for someone in sales, a laptop is a life line. I was only gone for 48 hours, and thankfully I didn’t have any emergency business happenings that required access to a computer. Even though I didn’t need the computer, the fact that I didn’t have one bothered me. Since I was a guest, I was in no position to complain about my lack of business accoutrements.
If I was the sort of guy who owned a vacation home at Lake Geneva and I really wanted to relax, I’d put together a simple office that would be able to service any business issues that might arise. The peace of mind that would come from knowing I had all of my connectivity bases covered would lead me into vacation utopia with ease. For some, the idea of vacationing means disconnecting from everything around them and truly relaxing. To me, and possibly to you, true relaxation comes from knowing I’m keeping all of my business in order and being able to react to any issue that might arise while I’m away. Give me a white pier and a cold drink and blue water and I’m happy, but please don’t forget the high speed internet.