What Summer Vacation?

The places people work when they work on vacation

By Jennifer Wang Jun 21, 2010

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

It’s been said that a good vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work. But for some workaholics (you know who you are), that means vacation never really begins in the first place.

A recent Microsoft study on working outside of the office reveals dreadful insights about the places employees work when they shouldn’t be working. The Work Without Walls survey polled–online, of course–3,500 adults around the country. The conclusion? Business trips aren’t the only time people work on the road.

The most common provisional workplaces, at 37 percent, are wherever the family happens to be vacationing. A surprising number admitted to toiling in grocery stores (10 percent) and parks (10 percent). Some couldn’t manage to put the BlackBerry down while camping (4 percent) or, no joke, at a funeral (1 percent).

Men apparently find it harder to put aside work: 43 percent of them said they worked during family vacations, compared with 31 percent of women. But please, guys, put away the laptop while you’re on the can–12 percent of men confessed to working in the restroom.

It’s been said that a good vacation is over when you begin to yearn for your work. But for some workaholics (you know who you are), that means vacation never really begins in the first place.

A recent Microsoft study on working outside of the office reveals dreadful insights about the places employees work when they shouldn’t be working. The Work Without Walls survey polled–online, of course–3,500 adults around the country. The conclusion? Business trips aren’t the only time people work on the road.

The most common provisional workplaces, at 37 percent, are wherever the family happens to be vacationing. A surprising number admitted to toiling in grocery stores (10 percent) and parks (10 percent). Some couldn’t manage to put the BlackBerry down while camping (4 percent) or, no joke, at a funeral (1 percent).

Men apparently find it harder to put aside work: 43 percent of them said they worked during family vacations, compared with 31 percent of women. But please, guys, put away the laptop while you’re on the can–12 percent of men confessed to working in the restroom.

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Jennifer Wang

Writer and Content Strategist
Jennifer Wang is a Los Angeles-based journalist and content strategist who works at a startup and writes about people in startups. Find her at lostconvos.com.

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