Paid vacations are sweet! But that “job jail” benefit comes with a price: the cubicles, corporate politics, company inflexibility and the like. Really, your schedule with a regular job is not your own! Compare the fixed-place working environment to coworking, where independent professionals, remote telecommuters, flexible workgroups, or virtual teams can work anytime, and (in some cases) from anywhere.
At a coworking community, such as DurangoSpace, we are closed on most Holidays (no staff support), but we are always open for our 24/7 members. You choose when and where to work, and with whom to work with (face-to-face at DurangoSpace or via Skype to distant locations). If you need some “time off”, go ahead and plan on “time away”… maybe you can work extra the night before, and take off for some skiing, ice climbing or indoor workout? Or spend time with your kids early in the day, and work later in the afternoon?
So back to the paid holidays. We have all enjoyed paid time off. But many of us dread the downside costs of “having to be at the office” and going to the “must attend” staff meetings. Instead we have been fortunate enough to move into the new workspace(s)…this new workspace includes coworking, home offices, working on the road and being members of virtual teams. This is the new world of work.
So while my friends and neighbors enjoy a paid holiday (and who wouldn’t), I don’t dread all the other days of the week. In fact, it is a great fun to join in my local coworking community each day. Well, on the days that I’m here coworking! In fact, I’m heading out for some skiing over the Holidays and on some weekdays in January! Why watch a powder day from my office window? Why not create a skiing holiday of my own making!
Jasper Welch, co-founder, DurangoSpace, Durango, CO USA
