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The concept of "workshop" in English combines two words: "work" (work) and "vacation" (vacation). In real life, this term means on-the-job leave with a mandatory change of scenery.
The workshop helps to look at the routine from a new angle and can become a source of fresh ideas and unusual solutions. Plus, it will surely save you from burnout when the vacation schedule is not yet soon, and your strength is already running out. And a well-organized workshop will teach you how to build a reasonable balance between work and personal life.
The symbiosis of work and rest will be appreciated by freelancers, because most of them do not have paid holidays. By moving your conditional office from an apartment to a country house or to a sultry beach, a free specialist will be able to reboot and not lose money.
For full-time employees, there is also a benefit. Most of them have paid leave, but many are familiar with its consequences: the salary after the holidays is so small that a person may find himself in a financial hole. The workshop will get rid of a hole in your wallet, provided that you can effectively perform your duties and build a schedule of rest and work.
The atmosphere and the situation change during trips, so you can get yourself into a state where it is easy to generate new ideas — non-standard and unusual, which you can't come up with in the office and at home. But at the same time, it is also possible to cope well with routine. It does not cause negativity and procrastination.
If everything is done correctly, vacation and work will not interfere with each other.
It is unlikely that your workshop will go well if you call the head from another country and say that you will not appear in the office in the near future. So first talk to your boss and make sure that he is not against your idea. Sometimes the specifics of the company or the nature of the work allows you to perform duties remotely .
Think about what you can't do without in a new place. Transfer the necessary documents to your laptop, install work programs, set up remote access to your computer, stock up on the necessary equipment and prepare other important things for solving professional tasks. If your company has a technical service, contact them to solve some of the issues.
Determine in advance the direction where you will go to combine business with pleasure. It is optimal if it is approximately in the same time zone with your main office. Of course, if we are talking about a cottage or a country estate, planning a workshop will require much less action than a trip to a ski or beach resort.
The difference in time zones can be both a bonus and a complicating point in the work. In my experience, if the main office is located in the east, and you fly to the west, it is more difficult to organize a workshop. You just wake up, and your colleagues have already worked half a day, and it becomes difficult to keep up. But if you go further east, it turns out to be more effective. In a calm atmosphere, you can solve many tasks, and by the time the main team comes to the office in the morning, you have everything ready for them and you can go about your business with a calm soul.
Looking through the options, keep in mind that it is important not only to change the situation, but also to organize a comfortable workplace in new conditions. Solving work issues on a laptop while sitting on a chaise longue by the sea is very inspiring, but not at all practical. In addition to confident Wi‑Fi, at some point you may need an outlet, a table and no noise for calls.
This process can take a lot of time and depends on the country where you are going to go. Sometimes it is possible to get a visa quickly, but depending on the state and the season, the queue for submitting documents to the embassy can last for months. Keep in mind that visas are given not only for a specific period, but also for a certain number of days of stay in the country. For example, if you have been given an annual visa for 30 days of stay, you should not plan a workshop longer than this time. It is unlikely that a working vacation will leave positive memories if you have to deal with migration services because of your own inattention.
Since you are going not only to rest, there must be suitable working conditions in an apartment or hotel. And if you are going to a workshop in a company, rent a house with several rooms so that, if necessary, you can retire to make calls to colleagues or clients. When choosing options, be sure to read the reviews: even if the owner of the apartment promises a cheerful Internet, it will not always be so in reality.
For more confidence, you can contact the hotel administration or the owner of the accommodation directly and ask all your questions. If you plan to work not for a couple of hours, but for the whole day, you should make sure that there are several jobs. For example, it's a little difficult for me to sit in one place all the time. Therefore, you can work in the room, in the lobby, in the restaurant, by the pool. And there should be stable Internet everywhere. If you need to make calls, ask about the presence of quiet and peaceful locations. By the way, I also pay attention to the air conditioner so as not to sweat during important negotiations.
Pay attention to the surrounding infrastructure — it should be as comfortable as possible. In addition to the grocery store, there should be places important to you within walking distance — for example, a gym, a pleasant coffee shop or a picturesque park for walking.
The workshop will make sense only if you find time for work, and for rest , and for entertainment, and for a full sleep. Set a clear framework for your working day and try not to be distracted from performing professional tasks at this time. At the same time, it is important that the schedule is synchronized with colleagues and clients, especially if you are in different time zones. Try not to plan for moving too often. It is optimal to live in one location for at least two weeks.
In fact, to adjust your life and daily routine for effective work is a big test, because there are many distractions. And moving is one of those moments. After all, you need to pack things, spend time on the road, then lay out these things again, and this all takes time. It is necessary to organize the workshop so that there are as few distractions as possible and work is a priority, and some activities and other plans are already in second place. If you plan all this in advance and add it to the calendar, there will be no problems.
Do not forget about free time. During your vacation, do not look into work chats, and it's better to get your phone out at all solely to create cool pictures.
In addition to expenses for food, accommodation, entertainment and other habitual needs, take care of the airbag. You should have an inviolable cash reserve, which can be useful in case of unforeseen circumstances — for example, if you need to pay for medical services. For more confidence, take cash with you, and keep non-cash money on several cards of different banks. If you lose one of them, you can transfer money to another using Internet banking.
