Work­c­a­tion in IV

I love my job, the people I work with and the way we work. Yet, after a month and 3000 kilometres from the office, I had to realise that I was probably on the verge of burnout.

It was back in the autumn when I first asked Kulcsi if I could work  remotely full-time for a while. I needed to retreat, but I didn't want to put work on hold. I hoped that I could find a way to combine the two.

I did. I've been working from a small town of Nazare, Portugal, for about a month. I set off with no expectations, or even any ideas. I jumped into my own waves, and by the time I caught my breath, I was completely absorbed by the city, the nature, and the community. At the same time, my efficiency at work increased. I became more energetic, more aware, more focused, even though I never thought I had any problems in this area and that I was performing well at work. I had to realise that this wasn't quite the case. Or, at least, the direction was definitely not right: I was heading towards what is most often called burnout.

4 years in Team IV

I started at Integral Vision as an account manager  in the autumn of 2018. I applied for the job because they seemed to be working on good cases, and they were focused not only on making sense of the work, but also on the process itself while delivering the best possible results.. I was not disappointed. I've been with IV for over four years now, and I still feel I've arrived. I am in the right place.

It would be a far fetch to call the past few years an easy ride, and there is plenty of room for improvement in the way we operate, but I still like the way we talk about the difficulties, even if we can't always resolve all the dilemmas. I am grateful that I am constantly given the space and support to try new and different situations, that I have a say in how I do my work, and that I can share it with honest, open and like-minded people who represent values that are important to me. I also accept - and perhaps even love a little - my failures. I feel that I can stumble around in a safe environment and always come out a little stronger and more aware.

I also feel that over the past few years, despite the rough patches, I've finally managed to find a pretty good work-life balance. There has been time for volunteering, gardening, sports and travel. The issue of burnout, I thought, didn't concern me. I'm constantly evolving, recharging, and I am secure.

30 metre waves

My journey was motivated by quite different reasons than being tired at work. I hadn't planned anything. It was also more of a hunch than a carefully considered decision on where I planned to "retreat". I knew from  before that the proximity of the ocean calms me, smoothes me out, frees me. I wondered how this energy would affect me if I spent a longer period of time close to the ocean, where the biggest waves in the world hit the shores in winter.

I had no expectations of myself or the trip. I didn't even try to imagine what it would be like here. After my arrival, I trusted myself that if I was open and active during my stay, things would fall into place. And so it happened.  After a month I noticed that my attitude to my work had changed. I had to realise that what I had previously thought was in balance was not, that the time I was taking to recharge could be used much more effectively, and that sometimes you really have to let things go to get closer to them.

Enjoying flexibility

At the beginning of this year, we are trying to bring our day-to-day practice more in line with both the legal framework and the rules we have created, so we are also talking more about our operational framework, our informal working hours. The changes of recent years have moved us further away from the traditional Monday-Friday, 9 to 5 working hours, and have given more space to flexible working hours and increased remote working.

I think that the informal working pattern is at least as challenging as a traditional model.t's a new terrain, compared  to the rhythm I'm used to, and I've had to spend a lot of time developing a framework that I feel safe and comfortable with. I think that for me, to this day, it takes constant adaptation and awareness to navigate the complete merging of work and private life, both in time and space. During my stay in Portugal, I also made new discoveries that helped me to really take advantage of the opportunities offered by the informal working hours.

So, away from the daily office chatter and the minutiae of home, I experience the flow mpore often,  when I can really delve  into a task and be efficient while enjoying it. I usually feel good about shutting down my laptop to take a break, and I can let go of work more easily. I don't dwell on what I haven't done yet, what's left to do, I just get a sense of accomplishment and I feel like I deserve the time I'm spending doing something different.

In order to have a chance to enjoy a bit of good weather during the day, I tried working in the morning and rediscovered how my energy level and focus are high at this time of the day. I've never been a late riser, but the last time I got up so early was during my university exams, and I'd forgotten how productive I could be at the crack of dawn. Being aware of what activities I do well and what I feel comfortable doing at different times of the day improves my performance and my well-being.

This requires a balance of planning and adaptability. I need  to be more aware of what I'm doing over a longer period of time, to see more clearly what tasks are in front of me and to constantly reprioritise them so that I always have time for tasks that are due or need to be done to meet someone else's workload. By being more aware of the possibility that an ad hoc non-work related opportunity may come my way, I am also more prepared for unexpected tasks at work that can disrupt my planned progress. I have become more accepting of the fact that re-planning is part of everyday life.

Recharging

I first heard the term "workcation" - a kind of working on holiday, working on holiday - a few days ago in reference to what I'm doing. Alone, in a new place, with new experiences, spending time off obviously takes on a completely different meaning than at home, but I'm confident that I'm taking some lessons with me that I can retain in my everyday life.

The excitement of discovery, the new impulses very quickly take my mind off work when I'm not in front of the screen When I'm running, I can be completely immersed in the landscape and not think about solving a problem. In conversations here, whether local or long-distance, work and work-related dilemmas it simply doesn't come up. So it was quite a surprise to realise how much of my conversations at work, with family and friends, are filled with this at home. It was only natural for me to share the good experiences, conflicts and challenges I had at work with people close to me, to listen to their difficulties and joys at work, to reflect together or just vent.

I still think these conversations are important and useful, especially if you, like me, love your job and see it as an important part of everyday life, and not just a necessity. At the same time, it is quite energizing and liberating to let go of work completely,and  shut it out of your thoughts and conversations. It can give you a whole other level of recharge, and I think it pays off when to have this approach from time to time

When distance brings you closer

Of course, it is undeniable that after a couple of weeks - perhaps because of the above, or because I am not in the office  three or four days a week and have a completely different connection with my colleagues from 3,000 km away - a strange, perhaps a little overwhelming feeling hit me. I described to one or two of my colleagues as feeling like a kind of "work robot". My productivity has increased, but my connectivity has weakened.

I miss the personal presence, I miss the conversations, seeing how others are doing and I miss being asked questions. It's a completely different experience, different time, different atmosphere, and for that, it's difficult to tune in to the chats before and between meetings. Now that I am working completely remotely on my own and the others are in a kind of hybrid mode, sometimes at home, sometimes in the office, the distance feels much greater than when we were all working from home during the lockdown.

I've come to accept that this is the price, so to speak, of all that I have the opportunity to experience and live in the meantime. Then I started to realise that I was fine. I don't feel frustrated by the feeling of "missing out", I don't feel that my connection is really weakening in the long term. I can be more present in a meeting and listen and understand more deeply than before. I am looking forward to spending time in the office and meeting people, but I have also learned - something that the lockdown could not teach me before - that I can maintain my connection with others from a distance. For a long time, distance was a negative concept for me, but now I know another side of it  that can give and build.

I am grateful to the team for making this journey possible for me. I thank them for their constructive and accepting approach to this period. I am confident that I will be able to incorporate some of the lessons I have learned into my daily life in a way that will contribute to our work together.