7 reasons your boss should send you on a workation

 BY ANGELIQUE SLOB ABOUT 7 REASONS YOUR BOSS SHOULD SEND YOU ON A WORKATION

Wow, a workation? How cool is that! Just take your laptop, go to a warm place, maybe with a beach, for a week or two, or even a month. Meet loads of interesting people to co-work with. And in your free time go surfing, hiking, visit new places or just relax. Todays technology makes it possible, and not just for the lone freelance web designer, it is also a great opportunity for employees who work with mainly using their laptops.

Wouldn’t you like to go? But maybe you think you can’t, because you are afraid that your boss is going to say no?

Well, here are some seven reasons you could use to convince your boss to give you permission.

Here are some of the arguments that help managers understand why allowing their employees going on a workation is a great idea that will benefit their businesses. Use these arguments and I am pretty sure they will let you go on workation. And probably your favourite colleague will get permission to join you!

Reason #1 You will realise some clear results

For the best change on success, pick a timeframe where you need to work on a project that requires a lot of solitary work, concentration and have some clear milestones. Either way, propose some clear objectives and results and commit to realising these during your workation. When your manager knows that you are committed to realising these goals, he shouldn’t be too concerned about where you are getting the actual work done.

Reason #2 You will be more productive

Traffic jams, visits to the dentists, colleagues with questions, meetings, shopping, cleaning, social calls…. So much of the time of the day normally gets lost on other tasks and all kinds of distractions. Research says it takes about 20 minutes to get back into your flow again after any distraction. Imagine how much more time you save to be productive when you work from any other place than your home or the workplace. So if you go to a place where you can isolate yourself from day to day distractions, your productivity will be higher. You are much more likely to meet your deadlines and finalise the work in time.

Reason #3 You will be more creative

Nothing will boost your creativity than a change of environment, play, and meeting new people. And this is all part of your workation. Going on a workation will break your daily routines. A new environment, especially with a lot of nature, will stimulate the right side of your brain, where the creative skills are. Doing physical sports, exercise and play are great help to stimulate the creative processes too. And you will get even more inspiration from the new people you will meet during your “away time”.

Reason #4 You will be learning

Travelling will make you highly independent and responsible. You will need to develop new skills and you will learn more. Especially when you are meeting others to co-work with, you will build a bigger network, you will get inspired, and you will get back refreshed and with new inspiration to bring back to your company.

Reason #5 You will be more engaged

Of course, your boss is your new favourite person in the world since he just allowed you to go on workation. Especially if it gets more and more common and you could do it more often, you will be more than happy to stay onboard in the team. You will recommend working for your employer to friends and family. Not only because you are allowed to go on workation, but they treat you like the responsible adult that you are. Your manager shows that they trust you and that just made them the best boss in the world.

Reason #6 You will be more responsible

Of course, there will be distractions on your workation, (most likely related to surf, beach time, or partying). And there is no “boss” or fixed working time to keep you “on track”, but you need to be mature and responsible enough to make a good distinction between worktime and playtime. You have committed yourself to realising the set goals and so this is a change to become more autonomous. By giving you freedom your boss also gave you more responsibility.

(Tip: you could go to a co-working space on certain timeslots, that is easier to plan work time and you can find them pretty much anywhere)
You discuss with your boss that the timeframe you picked for your workation doesn’t conflict with the requirements of your job. The work you will be doing is suitable to be done remotely, and there are no priorities that would require you to be physically present in the office or with clients. That way you show responsibility and increases your changes to get permission.

Reason #7 This doesn’t have to cost your boss extra money

Tell them you will pay for your own expenses such as flights, accommodation and food. Also make sure you have a good travel insurance, to take away the fear of having additional risks if you work on a location that is not the office.

That is it, the seven reasons that should convince your manager to allow you to take a (short) workation. Make sure to show your manager that you thought about it and that you are ready to take on the responsibility and I am pretty sure that it will work out. Make it your best working weeks ever, and who knows, it might become the norm rather then the exception in your job!

Oh, and last but not least: enjoy your workation!

About the Author

Angelique Slob is the founder of Hello Monday Club and an expert in the future of work. As a strategic organisational consultant she supports future minded founders and CEO’s to build high-performing and inspired teams that are ready for the challenges of the 21st century. She has been travelling for more then 20 years, and currently runs her business location independent and lives in Amsterdam, Lisbon and Brazil.