Beware of the workation trap!
Does work become more interesting and meaningful when done on a beach or amid pristine mountains?
Have you seen posters of people working on their laptops with a Zen smile on their faces? Add to the ambience. It’s not an office space they are working from but a beach or a mountain in the backdrop? The new term workation is sold to millennial workers as some kind of ultimate solution to their aches and pains at work. As if coding from the mountains or entering data from the sea beach would make their jobs more interesting and meaningful. As if that is the ultimate professional enabling they are looking for. Also, work from anywhere is sold as part of your salary package, so that you are ready to take pay cuts to avail this benefit.
One of the reasons why millennials and Gen Z workers fall for this trap is that they want to pack multiple activities in a single day. They don’t want to miss out on anything. Flexi work allows us to take work wherever we want. So, how does it matter if even in the mountains all we do after work is binge-watch Netflix shows? We want to be able to make some money while keeping our Insta feeds busy with pictures of us dipping our toes in cold spring water or working in casual wear while lying in a hammock under the shade of a tree. The exposure to nature obviously is mood-lifting. Many writers move to the mountains for inspiration. But, not all of us are writing novels or movie scripts. We are just doing daily work, with a specific deadline. Zoom meetings, long todo lists and endless phone calls... That’s what our workday looks like. Not inner contemplation that would lead to two sentences of profound poetry. That’s not what's paying our bills. Not to say that when you have a regular day job, you don't have a creative side or a need for creative recreations.
A real vacation, real contemplation and real commitment to our artistic, creative lives are necessary. A genuine commitment to our long-distance friends and relationships is needed. Only a token visit to the people who matter to us in the garb of work from home takes away from the power of full presence. By combining our workdays with our recreation and holiday we do justice to neither. Meeting a deadline is still going to be anxiety-inducing while being surrounded by mountains or living in a small cottage in a village. I can’t bring myself to work if it starts raining and the weather gets remotely romantic even in the middle of a busy city like Mumbai, Bangalore or Pune. Those are the days for looking out of the window, sipping copious amounts of chai, reading and writing poetry. I have no clue how people get anything done when mountains are waiting to be trekked upon, trees are waiting to wrap you up in their shade and wildflowers are overwhelming your visual senses. How do you look away from this wonder and focus on your laptop?
Further, our commitment to our employers and deadlines, too, need to be performed in the isolation of our cabins. To not do so is disrespecting something that pays our bills and disregarding people who trusted us with getting something done. The bashing of a toxic work culture doesn't allow for an indifferent attitude towards work ethics. We still have to be thorough professionals.
Before you sign up for the FOMOridden workation, ask yourself why must I have a deadline on looking at a flower or listening to the sweet song of birds or the gurgling sound of the nearby spring? Why must I be torn apart by the anxiety of going back to my laptop and the natural urge to keep walking barefoot on green grass and taking long breaths of mountain air? Why must I live on crumbs of presence, bliss and happiness? Why not demand more from us and our employers who are equally responsible for our mental well-being instead of cramming too much into too little space? (The writer is a mental health and behavioural sciences columnist, conducts art therapy workshops and provides personality development sessions for young adults. She can be found as @the_millennial_pilgrim on Instagram and Twitter.)