How to Have a Working Holiday That Means You Work and Relax!

Today we’re talking about how to have a working holiday that means you work and relax at the same time.

Listen in and find the show notes below, or on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify.

It’s coming up to the summer holidays which means it’s a time when a lot of people take a break. Whether the kids are off school or you’re making the most of the warmer months.

If you work for yourself then sometimes taking a full holiday isn’t possible. I’m not saying that every holiday means you have to work. Because you definitely need breaks where you completely switch off! But sometimes there are times where you want to have a bit of balance or work and relaxing.

In January I went on my first working holiday. Myself and Nick (my fiancé) headed to France for three weeks. He’s retaining in medicine so gets set times off a year. I wanted a holiday but also knew that I couldn’t take three weeks off at this time.

In the first week I definitely struggled. If I was relaxing, I was feeling guilty as I wasn’t working. Then if I was working, all I wanted to do was go out and have fun. Basically, lose lose!

I realised I had to set some rules and boundaries in place to ensure that these three weeks meant that I worked as well as having the holiday I wanted.

Here are some tips if you are thinking of taking a working holiday and how you can make it work for you. Either this summer or in the future.

Decide on your working days

Tip number one is deciding on the days or the number of days you are going to work. I had to work out if I was working three, four or five days a week. And there’s no right or wrong answer here. Plus it can flex if you are going away for more than a week.

Non-negotiable days

Work out the days that you will definitely be taking off for certain activities or excursions. This means that those days are non-negotiable and are definitely your holiday days.

On my trip, I knew we had two nights away during the week to go skiing in Italy. Which meant that some of my working days moved to the weekend.

Work out your hours

Your hours don’t have to be 9-5 or 7-7 – or whatever it is you currently do. Think about what will work best for you. Maybe it’s shorter hours over more days. Or longer hours over fewer days.

You know when you work best and what kind of holiday you’re going on. So think about what will fit in best with who you’re with and where you’re staying.

Be realistic

The last tip is to be really realistic with your to-do list as it is a working holiday – not just work! You’re not going to get as much done and that’s okay because you’re also on holiday.

Think about setting one to two tasks that you really want to get done in a week and if you get more than this completed then it’s a bonus. And remember this is still half, if not more than half, a holiday for you.

And that’s it! A few simple tips to get the most out of a working holiday if you decided to embark on one. But if you need a break then please do switch off completely 🙂

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Have a great summer and I’ll be back in two weeks with a new episode!