“Sipping an espresso in a cafe on the République Avenue in Paris at 8 AM, which is still too early for my class at ECSP. However, it’s already 1 PM in Vietnam, where my team is ready for the daily WIP (work in process) meeting. My job is to overview and manage the process of everyone in the risk department who is working on the projects of an IT-based client who wants to take out a loan. Having updated their progress on Slack, they spent the first 30 minutes brainstorming ideas with me. It was a smooth meeting. After spending 45 minutes joining the meeting and making sure that the team is still on track with their tasks, I continue working on my own before leaving for school at 10 AM. That is how my typical morning goes, when I spend 2 hours accomplishing my tasks as the Head of Risk Management at a Vietnamese business at a cafe that is a 14-hour flight away and keep receiving urgent Skype calls even when I’m in class. Busy as usual, but I’m still pleased to breathe in the air of Paris in May, overlook a romantic sight, and complete the work that brings me a stable income.”
I dug out this note the other day and couldn’t help reminisce my life as a digital nomad when I was still working at a bank in Vietnam. Even when workation was not mainstream, I already made it my common working style. Workation simply means you work full time while staying at a holiday location. Making a living while still getting to travel the world, doesn’t it sound wonderful?
Born and raised a Saigonese, I have developed an interest in traveling since I was 18. Yet, working hard just to travel full time is not a desired option for me. I believe an excessive amount of everything dries out your affection for it. So I opt for traveling occasionally. From a young age, I already set a goal for myself: whenever I’m independent financially, work-wise and time-wise, I’ll travel. Yet, according to the labor law in Vietnam, one employee is allowed 15 days of paid leave only, which already limits my freedom of time. So I wanted to see if traveling while working was an option. After much effort put in my work and the delegation at work, I finally was permitted to do so. Before 2017, I went on 30-50 trips per year, from spending 3 days in Singapore or Thailand, to staying in Europe, Africa or East Asia for a week.
You would think that only a freelancer can pursue this style of working. But you can actually do so while having a full-time job too. Here’s how you can achieve that:
1. Find a job that does not measure your efficiency by your presence at the office, but by the results you have produced.
Banking is probably the last industry you would expect to allow their employees to travel while working. The job’s nature requires you to be physically present in order for people to see how effectively you work. And that’s a mindset you cannot change easily, should there is not an influence from an extrinsic force.
So you have to earn your right to demand workation.
When I first joined my company, I was young and inexperienced. I felt it was not my place to say anything, let alone state my opinion or demand something from my employers. Knowing my position at the time, I put in twice the effort any other newbies did. I stayed late at the office to read all the materials and understand all the acronyms or professional slangs. I completed all of my annual KPIs within the first quarter. Having shown my boss how capable I was, I was promoted to Team Lead only after 2 years of working there.
Now that I had proved to other colleagues that I deserved to be there as much as they did, I was completely aware of my values and I knew I had earned the right to ask for something in return. I went to HR to ask her to change the conditions in my contract. Taken aback, she brought this matter to the leaderboard and I was called into the office the following day. Facing many high-level superiors, I did not waver. I came well-prepared and I let them understand my true potential, what I could bring to the table, and how much it would cost them to let me go just because I demanded a change in my working style.
That was how my life working from across the globe started.
2. Have compassion for your colleagues and employers
If it’s up to all of us, who would want to stay inside the four walls 24/7 365? Understanding this, you have to create an environment free of envy by showing your colleagues empathy. I felt fortunate to have worked in an international environment with my American-Vietnamese and German bosses and the young and open-minded teammates. Whenever my team members wanted to take a day off to travel even though they already maxed out their permitted paid leave, I was happy to sign them off, knowing all too well that they would keep their work flowing. Everyone has their own perception of workation and you just have to understand and have compassion for them.
3. Your office is wherever there’s Internet
When there’s fast connection, such as being on a shinkansen in Japan, work. You are given the most suitable working environment so get down to business. When you have to stay off-grid, choose to be one with the nature, be with your loved ones, and fully recharge. Clearly separate your time and effort will make workation much easier.
4. Plan, plan, plan
As the name suggests, workation means you have to work, most of the time, with other people from different timezones. Therefore, it is essential to plan in advance and have an agreed meeting schedule with your colleagues so no one has to sacrifice their precious time for someone else. Take the initiative to suggest the right timetable and keep track with everyone. By ensuring that you are working effectively even when you’re not present, your chance of sustaining workation is much higher.
5. Play hard, work smart
Returning to the note I mentioned earlier, even just with 2 hours in the morning, I made sure to finish all of my tasks. I did not let anything distract me from accomplishing my work, knowing that only by getting this done could I truly enjoy my trip. I do believe that we should have recognized this much sooner, that we need to work smarter not harder. Your efficiency should not be determined by being at the office from 9 to 5, which if we are being completely honest, there are hours you spend doing absolutely nothing. If an employee can finish all his tasks with precision and dedication within a short period of time, why should he not be granted the rest to do whatever his heart desires?
Workation is here to stay. It is not a trend that will quickly fade away as soon as the pandemic is over. It has been here for a long time and is considered a more effective way of working for many. If your work allows, try to aim for such a life, where you can live and not just stay alive.
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