How My Vacation Offered Reprieve from Normal Work

I said that I would not work on my vacation. The week-long retreat to the beach with my family was well-deserved and perhaps long overdue. I enjoyed plenty of time at the beach, afternoons reading, and days where my young sons’ schedules ruled. However, without touching a keyboard, I found myself continuing to “work” often focusing on activities I do not always find time for throughout the standard work week.

1. I read Cali Williams Yost’s book, Work+Life Fit and was inspired by her ideas about each individual’s role in creating a fit (not balance) for all life’s responsibilities.
2. Inspired by Cali’s book, I rethought the vernacular I use to describe work-life balance determining that what I dislike about the term is the segregation of work from life. It seems to me that work, family, and other responsibilities should all be enmeshed together making up a fulfilling life. Watch for future musings on this topic.
3. I checked my website and email with some regularity removing a bum poll whose links I lost early in the week. I am still very interested in your ideal work environment, so leave a comment below. The initial responses I did get through the poll were dominated by those who prefer working from a home office.
4. I also kept an eye on some of my favorite blogs throughout the week including: Job-Mom, Business Week's Working Parents blog, and Family Friendly Work.
5. Thought over and made plans for a few site improvements. Hopefully you will not even notice most of the changes I am planning. However, do look for more polls (with better links) and other easy interactive features in the near future.
6. I talked with quite a few people about their work arrangements and preferences for scheduling options once again being reminded of the vast number of solutions for employees juggling varied responsibilities.
7. I picked a winner for our Flexible Resume Makeover contest. Today I am working on making the resume anonymous, but look for our prized resume soon and congratulations to Lauren from Pennsylvania!

Now that the sand is washed off my feet, it’s back to work as usual.