After a nearly two year hiatus, I am back with an exciting announcement! I have a new podcast called Change Academy and in this short episode of Workplace Hero, I explain what the new show is all about and play you a snippet from Episode #1 of Change Academy.

I'm going to come right out and say it. The reason I chose the topic of Self Promotion for this episode is that I have something to sell you.

The product is called Weighless and Weighless is a fat loss program. So, as you can probably guess, with the millions on other fat loss programs out there advertising themselves, it is difficult being heard above the noise. So, in our endeavour to rise above all the noise, we have been forced to become self-promotion ninjas.

Parkinson's Law is a book by C. Northcote Parkinson. And this book is best known for its opening line: Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. Now, do you recognise it? I bet you do. Honestly, I didn’t know it had a name until I started writing this episode. 

Top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in most fields all set goals. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation and it helps you to organize your time and your resources.

-- Goal Setting

Hello my cubicle convictions, open space schemers, corner office objectives, home den dutiful and coffee shop schemas. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am not the workplace hero. If there is a Workplace Hero around these parts, it is you my friend. And I will explain why, in a few minutes. Right now, I want to give you some data.

The first Workplace Hero podcast episode was released on March 5, 2017. Here is a snippet of the Facebook live video I did to celebrate.

Since then, I have released 30 episodes (including this one) which have received a total of about 12,000 downloads, ranging between 647 downloads for Katy Bowman’s “To Sit or Not To Sit” episode and 250 downloads for the “What Happens at Work Stays at Work” episode.

When I started the podcast, I of course had high hopes of thousands of downloads and advertiser’s banging down my virtual door but at the same time I really had no idea if anyone would listen or care (aside from my mom). And as you can see, this podcast is by no means a wild, runaway success but it is also by some measures and stats I have seen passed around on the podcast forums, performing better than 95% of the podcasts on the Apple Podcasts app.

Even more important than that though, this podcast has been a blast to produce. It really has scratched an itch that I have had for a while. I have worked as a tech and/or producer on 13 different podcasts and all but two or three of them have been interview style podcasts. You know, where two people sit down and have an organic conversation (usually over Skype) and then it was my job to try to make it sound good and make sense.

Well, I have always been more interested in creating a more produced, scripted, researched and polished podcast. This is likely due to my background in music and my occasional dips into broadcast radio. Workplace Hero is that podcast. I love the artistry that I can bring to it. The time I take to add sound effects and drum beats and music soothes my soul. Truly.

Now, I know I am rambling a bit but I do have a point here… so let me get to it.

When I decided to commit to this podcast, I was worried that it would be harder, more time consuming, slower to take off than I had anticipated and I didn’t want to prematurely pull the plug on it before I had a chance to really experience what it was like to be a solo podcaster. I didn’t want to get 5 episodes in, realize that my mom is the only one commenting on the blog posts (which she kinda is) and that I am only getting 200 downloads per episode (remember that I have worked on shows that get 100,000 + downloads per episode so that is my frame of reference) and end the adventure before the podcast really had a chance to grow, build an audience and become part of my daily life.

So I remembered (incorrectly, I might add) something I had read that Tim Ferriss said when he started his podcast. I incorrectly remembered him writing that he decided to do 30 episodes to see if he liked liked podcasting. What he actually wrote was “ I decided to try long-form audio for six episodes. If I didn’t enjoy it, I would throw in the towel and walk.” https://tim.blog/2016/04/11/tim-ferriss-podcast-business/

Well, despite what Tim actually wrote, I decided my number was 30.

I was not allowed to stop, pull the plug, take a week off or break stride for 30 episodes. Once I reached 30, then I had a decision to make. Until then, it was business as usual. A business that is losing me money and time every week but also a business that I enjoy and hope is helping people in some small way, each week.

Today, I am happy to say that I made it to 30. Six months later, here I am sitting down to write the 30th episode.

—Fan Fare— It literally says in my script the words fan fare. That’s how I roll.

Anyway, whether or not my goal was set deliberately through calculation and research or was set due to a misremembered quote from the 4-Hour Workweek guy, I am very glad that I set that goal. There were certainly times along the way that if the goal had not been there - and publicly stated (which is crucial) - I am sure I would have wimped out.

Over at MindTools.com they ask the question: why set goals?

Well, top-level athletes, successful business-people and achievers in most fields all set goals. Setting goals gives you long-term vision and short-term motivation and it helps you to organize your time and your resources.

By setting sharp, clearly defined goals you will see and be able to measure forward progress in what might previously have seemed like a long and occasionally pointless grind. You will also raise your self-confidence, as you recognize your own ability and competence in achieving the goals that you've set. This certainly was true for me.

I could have easily been distracted by the downsides of working so hard on something that is growing so slowly, or spent more time staring at my website and audio analytic data than focussing on the topic for the next episode. But by having the overarching goal of hitting 30 episodes, I could see my forward progress. And by committing to those 30 episodes, I knew that once a week I needed to buckle down and put in the time required to create those episodes.

So, how do you start to set personal goals? Well, to begin with, you have to look at your goals in levels.

First you create the "big picture" of what you want to do with your time (over the next 6 months let’s say since that is how long it takes to release a 30 weekly podcasts), and identify the large-scale goal that you want to achieve in those 6 months.

Then, you break this big picture goal down into the smaller and smaller targets that you must hit to reach your big picture. For me that was to choose a topic each week, decide whether to get an expert on to talk about it, do some research, write my script, record the audio, edit the audio, and post all of that for the world to see. Each week. Without fail.

Finally, once you have your plan, you start working on it to achieve these goals.

Easy right? Well, not for everyone. I know more than a few people who have had great ideas, decide to try one and give up on it before they have given it a fair shake at all. Sure, there are ideas that don’t deserve being seen through to the end but hopefully those get vetted before the domain name is purchased, the logo is drawn and the company name is registered. I have had more than a few of those ideas. Ideas that died while I was trying to explain it to a friend, trying to choose a name for it, and one idea even died as I was pitching it to a potential investor. That was awkward.

The people over at CodeOfLiving.com have a great list called “5 Reasons Why Goal Setting Is Important” this is it in a nutshell: 1. Goals Give Your Focus Imagine having to shoot an arrow without being given a target. Where would you aim? And say you did aim at some random thing (out of sheer perplexity). Why would you aim there? And what would the purpose be? Get the idea‰? This is a literal example of what life is like without a goal or target in mind.

Remember the story Alfred told Bruce Wayne in the Dark Knight movie? When they were slowly realizing the the Joker had no real goal? “...some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.” As cool as Heath Ledger was in that movie as The Joker, don’t be like him. Get some focus and have a goal.

2. Goals Allow You To Measure Progress By setting goals for yourself you are able to measure your progress because ...

Society tells us that working harder and working more hours is good, but if you have listened to this podcast for a while you know that it is actually damaging you, hard on your fellow employees and even detrimental your company's success.

So, let me ask you this. “What is the difference between a hard worker and a workaholic?"

Today’s topic is a fun one. Partially because it is something that I am sure that we can all agree on but mostly because for the first time in quite a while we have a guest hero! Guest heroes, actually. Vanessa and Adam Lambert from Bee The Wellness. We’ll here from them in just a bit but first, let’s talk about a thing known as Work Zones. And no, I am not ta lking about that section of the highway where you see a bunch of pylons and folks in brightly coloured outfits standing around with shovels in their hands while enormous machinery digs a new ditch No, I am talking about spaces around your home, your office or where ever you get your work done, where you can vary your stance, extend your gaze, vary your movement, and even other biomarkers like your body temperature, to keep from getting what Adam will refer to later as “cabin fever” while you are at work.

Hello, my cubicle contrasters, open space sundry, corner office opposite, home den dissimilar, and coffee shop specialized. My name is Brock Armstrong, and after you listen to enough of these podcast episodes, I hope to replace the voice in your head - “put your phone down and get back to work - when was the last time you got up from your desk - shouldn’t you have left work by now - always take the stairs.” Is that creepy? Maybe a little… anyway…  Today’s topic is a fun one. Partially because it is something that I am sure that we can all agree on but mostly because for the first time in quite a while we have a guest hero! Guest heroes, actually. Vanessa and Adam Lambert from Bee The Wellness. We’ll here from them in just a bit but first, let’s talk about a thing known as Work Zones. And no, I am not ta  lking about that section of the highway where you see a bunch of pylons and folks in brightly coloured outfits standing around with shovels in their hands while enormous machinery digs a new ditch No, I am talking about spaces around your home, your office or where ever you get your work done, where you can vary your stance, extend your gaze, vary your movement, and even other biomarkers like your body temperature, to keep from getting what Adam will refer to later as “cabin fever” while you are at work.  Before I continue, let’s step into the email zone for a minute… heh. I would love it if you signed up for the Workplace Hero email newsletter over at workplacehero.me. The sign up form is on the righthand side of the page. Because I believe so strongly in the idea of Inbox Zero, I promise that you will only receive an email once per week, and it will be short, to the point and easy to delete. Plus, just for signing up, you will receive a coupon code for 10% off at the online health and fitness store, GreenfieldFitnessSystems.com. Over there they have a huge array of supplements, gear, plans, coaches and clothing that will help keep you healthy and fit. So sign up for the newsletter at workplacehero.me and get your discount code for GreenfieldFitnessSystems.com now.  Ok. Let’s meet our guest heroes.  AdamHi We are Adam and Vanessa Lambert owners of Bee The Wellness. We have been in the health and fitness business for nearly 20 years and as holistic wellness coaches we focus on the complete picture, including strength and conditioning, nutrition, mindfulness, and adventure. Since creating Bee The Wellness we have helped thousands of people adopt a healthier lifestyle as well create expanded lives through our remote coaching programs and retreats. They also have a great podcast that you can find on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts. Just search for Bee (that’s with two Es) The Wellness or go to beethewellness.com and give it a try. A good episode to start with would be the one where they interviewed me! Ha ha… as if you don’t get enough of me already. Anyway. When I asked Vanessa and Adam what issues they saw cropping up in their clients as a direct result of their workspaces, this is what they told me.  VanessaAs the majority of our work for Bee The Wellness takes place out of our house or on the road and includes a ton of computer time we have identified three issues that cause us the most grief and negatively impact our productivity.  1. Eye strain - Frequent laptop and mobile device sessions can have our gaze fixed at one distance for hours if we don’t take action.2. Lack of movement - When you get out of bed and then you are at work all day you miss out on several opportunities to move. Think walking to your car, walking up the stairs in your office, and running whatever errands you have to do. Adam3. Boredom/ fatigue - Similar to #2 being in the same space morning noon and night can seriously affect our ability to stay focused. It’s like having cabin fever and can sneak up pretty quickly if you don’t get a change of scenery. To combat these issues we create work zones and rotate between them throughout the day. These zones help us to stay productive and check a few items off of our daily fitness list.  I don’t think any of us can argue with any of those issues. In my experience they are all quite ubiquitous in our modern work life. I for one have been experiencing more and more annoying eye problems the older I get (and no I don’t wear reading glasses… not yet anyway. Sometimes I would rather work in a very loud and crowded coffee shop than spend another minute standing at my desk in my office. And I know that I am lucky that a large part of my job involves me getting a lot of movement in my day (remember, I am also the Get-Fit Guy over at QuickAndDirtyTips.com) but I have many clients who feel trapped behind their desk and are simply desperate to find more ways to add more movement to their every day life. So this is where the idea of Work Zones come into play. I will let Vanessa explain.  VanessaSo what are work zones? They are spaces you identify throughout your home, office, and common spaces like hotels, where you can set up shop and work. There really is no limit to how you set up your spaces but we like to make sure we at least cover these three bases: Adam1) Sit-to-stand: This is where your technical work gets done and the place to put any specialty gear you require. A podcast recording setup for example. 2) Outdoor: Like the name implies we want this space to be outdoor or as close to it as possible. Somewhere with distant views, fresh air, and outdoor light.3) Gym Space: This does not need to be fancy, just a spot with a few fitness tools and the freedom to move. Vanessa I am sure your mind is already scheming, already taking stock of the benefits you will glean, the energy you will reclaim and the focus you will gain but our guests have a few more benefits.  So what are the benefits? 1st there is the physical benefits from frequent movement: Changing your physical position, sit to stand, leaning back into a stool which allows the hip capsule to remain open, captain morgan. Any new position you can create for your body helps decrease the problems associated with not only repetitive motion but the rigidity that staying in one place creates. We know that lack of movement  is bad for circulation, mobility, and maintaining consistent energy and focus throughout the day. So creating new positions is important Adam 2nd we know staring at the computer all day can cause eye strain: A great practice is take to breaks and stare off in the distance to give the muscles in the eye a chance to work. By moving outside where we can actually focus on something in the distance we offer our eyes the opportunity to work in a way that strengthens the muscles and helps prevent fatigue.  Vanessa 3rd. As with any job one of the greatest challenges we face is a diminishing ability to focus or stay engaged: Changing our work zone serves as a way to break up the monotony of the  day and gives us a chance to feel refocused without losing productivity and time.  Those are all great points but let’s get some concrete examples of how this can work in the real world.  Adam With this in min...

Close your eyes for a second and dig deep into your psyche. I want you to be truly honest with yourself. Can you do that for me? Ok. Do you truly believe that one day you will actually go home from work with a completely clear desk? No projects left incomplete, no phone calls left to make, no emails to follow up on, no documents to edit, and no meetings to book?

The honest to dog truth is that there will always be work left undone at the end of your busy day. Admitting this gives us three options:

1. We can go home, but take the work with us and then spend our evening doing it (or actively suppressing the urge to do it). This ensures maximum tension at home, unrestful rest, and then returning to work the next day tired and resentful.
2. Drag your ass home, leave the work on your desk, then spend the evening fretting over what you left behind. Same results ensue involving the tension and fitful sleep. And when you get back to work next day, you’ll be tired and resentful—and the work will not have been done either.
3. Take a deep cleansing breath, leave the work behind gracefully, truly forget about it, and enjoy a relaxing evening. No tension, lots of rejuvenating rest, plus you return the next day ready to tackle what’s waiting for you.

Before we dive deeper down this magical list of alternatives, I want encourage you to sign up for the Workplace Hero email newsletter over at workplacehero.me. The sign up form is on the righthand side of the page. Please know that because I believe strongly in the idea of Inbox Zero, you will only receive an email once per week, and it will be short, to the point and easy to delete. Best of all, just for signing up, you will receive a coupon code for 10% off at the online health and fitness store, GreenfieldFitnessSystems.com. Over there they have a huge array of supplements, gear, plans, coaches and clothing that will help keep you healthy and fit. So sign up for the newsletter at workplacehero.me and get your discount code for GreenfieldFitnessSystems.com now.

OR what happens at work, stays at work.

Here are some techniques that I found at Lifehacker.com and crew.co that will help you achieve the last and best of the three options I mentioned.

Like a cool down after a hard workout, treat your trip home as positive time to wind down and start the process of relaxation. Play some of your favourite music, or listen to your favourite podcast. I would suggest not catching up on the news or scrolling through social media. Choose something you really like and enjoy and that won’t remind you of work or bum you out about how truly crappy humans can be to each other.

There’s a perception that more work equals more productivity, but that’s not always the case. So you never take a sick day, or a vacation, and you are always ‘on-call.’ You also put in about 70 hours a week, so that will pay off eventually I’m sure…oh wait, except it doesn’t. The Economist looked at the data from OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) countries found that the more productive workers were actually those that spent less time in the office. Lifehacker takes it one step further and puts an actual number on how many hours we work before we begin to see diminished results (hint: it’s about 30 hours a week). If there was ever a reason to leave work at work, this data should be it. You are actually making yourself more productive!

This one is more of a psychological one - match your journey time with the time you need to relax. If that means taking the long, scenic route, so be it. If it means stopping at a park on along the way, that’s just fine. Your family and friends will prefer you half an hour later but in a calm and pleasant mood rather than half an hour earlier but in a foul one.

Never be in a hurry to get home. If you do, every hold-up, every traffic jam, every pedestrian trying to cross the street in front of you, every late train, or missed bus will be a source of additional stress. Try to take it easy, and I don’t mean you have to drive under the speed limit. Simply treat your commute home as your time—a period just for you. All day at work, you’re at other peoples’ beck and call. Now it’s time to to relax and be yourself.

If you need to rant and/or vent, do it before you leave work or do it along the way. Curse the world in the privacy of your own vehicle or yell at the wind as you ride your bike home. Go to the noisiest part of the subway platform and rant where no one can hear you. Just don’t walk in the door when you arrive home and launch directly into a rant. Who wants to bring a cocktail and slippers to that?

Take a minute at the end of the day to write down your accomplishments because it’s easy to get bogged down in everything that you still have to do that you forget everything that you have already done. What good is working if you never take pride in those accomplishments that you put so much time and effort in? Before you end each day reassess your to-do list, look at what you something accomplished that day and feel good about it.

If you must take work home—and you should treat that idea as you would infecting yourself with a repulsive social disease—designate a specific time to do it and stick to that designation. Early is best (while you are still in work mode). Plus you don’t want to do it too late or you may get into bed, wide awake and still buzzing from staring at a screen, and probably sleep badly, and then start the next day off on a bad note. Besides, no one is going to put on a Barry White album for someone who is pouring over spreadsheets in their comfy at home undies.

When you get home, switch your full attention to whoever is there waiting for you (be it human, animal, amphibian or whatever). Never be physically present and mentally still at work—that sucks for everyone. If there is no one home, focus your attention on some domestic matters to help shake off the day. Do what it takes to get work out of your brain.

Always keep your promises. If you’ve planned to go out for dinner, don’t cancel, claiming to be tired or swamped. If you’ve promised to help your kid with homework, do it. If you said you would dive into the new season of Game of Thrones, dive in! People who break promises are teaching those around them a dangerous lesson and although you may really really feel like you do not what to do what you promised, I bet that you will end up enjoying it—and inevitably feel far better than if you slumped in front of the TV or your laptop resenting work, yourself and the world that created capitalism.

Be firm with yourself. In the end, leaving work behind, mentally and physically, is all on you. You have to want to do it, decide to do it, and then freakin’ do it—and keep on doing it, until it becomes the well ingrained norm. Slowing down and clearing your mind of the leftovers from the day is indeed an act of will. You may think that watching TV or distracting yourself in some other way can be a short-cut, but it how is that working out for you so far? The minute you ease up on the distraction, all the worries come rushing back. Right?

Every day this week, I want you to mentally prepare for the end of your day.

When you bring work home chances are that you are thinking about that e-mail you didn’t send or the big meeting you have tomorrow or everything you have to do before Friday’s launch, and so on. So, before you leave work, simply clean up your desk.

A clutter free desk (and that includes your inbox, and computer desktop) helps to clear your mind. Physical clutter competes for your attention ...

For a good percentage of us work-a-day-grumblers, three little words habitually accompany our entrance to work, a meeting, a luncheon or even getting home from work: “Sorry, I’m late.” Does this sound like you?

Hello cubicle cutoff, open space overdue, corner office out of luck, home den delayed and coffee shop sluggish. My name is Brock Armstrong and I am… not the Workplace Hero. We’re on that trajectory together, you and I. You can think of me as your very chatty co-pilot.

Before we get started, if you enjoy this podcast and the tips and strategies it contains, I encourage you to visit SkywalkerFitness.ca. That is the wellness coaching business that I run. Whether you are wanting to slim down, run a 10k or a marathon, race in a triathlon, pack on some muscle, clean up your diet, or get ripped, I will create a plan for you. No cookie cutter programs allowed. Just 100% tailored programs that fit around your life’s commitments. And for being a Workplace Hero, I will give you a special deal on your first 3 months of coaching. Head over to SkywalkerFitness.ca and send me a note mentioning this podcast episode so I can start building you the perfect program to meet your wellness goals.

Let me set the stage for you - It’s Monday morning. In a surprise turn of events, you wake up feeling great! You had a fun weekend of good sleep, good food, fresh air and exercise, and aside from the one drink-drink you had with dinner on Saturday night, you adhered to your long term plan extremely well.

Sadly, something goes wonky with the kids, or you take a little too long chatting with that cute barista, or doing your morning journalling, or spacing out on your coffee cup, and you find yourself running late. “Not again!” you think to yourself. “I hate being late!”

For a good percentage of us work-a-day-grumblers, three little words habitually accompany our entrance to work, a meeting, a luncheon or even getting home from work:

“Sorry, I’m late.”

Does this sound like you?

A ton of studies have looked into why some of us are chronically late. The truth is that there are many reasons why people just can’t get somewhere on time. But there seems to be one common thread running through the behaviour of chronically late individuals that may be a universal reason for their perpetual tardiness—and it is a surprising one:

People are late because they don’t want to be early.

Most of us know people who are always on time because they hate being late. I fall smack dab into this category; in fact, I’m freakishly scared of being late. I often arrive places embarrassingly early, which sometimes prompts me to hide out somewhere around the corner, playing with my phone, just so people don’t notice just how early I actually got there.

Because people like me hate to be tardy, we always appear to be on time (even if it is because we hid in a stairwell playing Kwazy Kupcakes on our phone for 20 minutes). But just as we hate to be late, another cohort hates to be early. And if you ask them, these anti-early birds say that they really want to be punctual—they just prefer to be right on time than to be early.

Wanting to avoid being early, then, is a strong motivation for why many people who are chronically late and honestly it is hard to reconcile these two competing ideals.

So why does this second group hate to be early? There are many reasons but here are a few that I found at PsychologyToday.com:

1. It’s inefficient. Being early requires having to sit around with nothing to do (or play with your phone). The waiting time is just short enough that you can’t get into any other project; as soon as you do, the time is up.

2. They hate the uneasiness of being early. They feel awkward and uncomfortable waiting. They might even feel as if others are watching and judging them, whether this is true or not. Arriving a few minutes early makes you feel proud and confident, but arriving too early can make you feel foolish. You fear others might think that you have no life aside from this event, and you don’t want people to think that your time isn’t valuable either.

3. There is an opportunity cost associated with getting somewhere early. Just as someone else’s time is valuable and you want to respect it by being punctual, so too is your time valuable and you'd rather use it productively than wait around inefficiently. This is a behaviour I saw time and time again with a CEO friend of mine. He was so obsessed with not wasting a moment of his time that he would see a 3-minute window as a chance to get another call done which inevitably took longer than 3 minutes and would start a cascade of lateness for the remainder of the day.

4. Sometimes you do not want to be early to be polite. You may not want to disturb someone by getting there too soon—say, a friend’s dinner party—so you would actually rather get there a little late.

In an article at the Huffington Post called: This Is Why You're Late All The Time (And What To Do About It), Diana DeLonzor, author of Never Be Late Again says “Lateness is really a commonly misunderstood problem. Yes, it's a rude act, but I've interviewed hundreds of people and the vast majority of late people really dislike being late, they try to be on time, but this is something that has plagued them throughout their lives. Telling a chronic late person to be on time is like telling a dieter, 'Don't eat so much.'"

And it's often a problem that begins early in life. For many people, it started in childhood, and they're late for not only things that have to do with other people, but things that will only hurt themselves. They'll show up to the gym, for instance, 10 minutes before it closes, or they'll even be late for important appointments like job interviews.

Part of DeLonzor’s research included a test to measure the differences in how timely and late people perceive the passage of time. The test she devised is a simple one that you can try yourself. Choose three or four pages in a book, mark the time, and start reading. Stop reading when you think ninety seconds have elapsed, then check your watch to see how accurate you were. DeLonzor found that early birds, almost without fail, stopped reading before ninety ­seconds had passed, while the late-ers put their books down well ­after the ninety-second mark.

The researchers at Cleveland State University also included a time perception test in their lateness study, this time using stop-watches. Interestingly, their results were similar to DeLonzor’s - the late people consistently underestimated the passage of time.

There are many many more studies, papers, opinions and theories as to why people are chronically late but we don’t have time to get into all of them in this episode. But what we will do is look at 5 potentially helpful strategies that you can implement if you are one of those always in a hurry and yet always late individuals. And yes, if you are a late person, this is your homework.

1. Reevaluate how long your routines really take. Late people tend to remember the one time they got ready in 20 minutes (instead of 40) or the one time they got to work in seven (instead of 15) minutes. Try writing down your daily habits and then estimating how long you think it takes you to do each one -- then spend a week or so writing down how long each thing actually takes. It's time to relearn how to tell time.

2. Change your thoughts, not just your behaviour. Reframing the way you think about punctuality can be an effective cognitive trick. Instead of stressing about it, sit down with a pen and paper (when you're not in a rush) and jot down all the positives that come with being on time. That is from Teri Bourdeau, a clinical associate professor of behavioural sciences at Oklahoma State University. You might write, for example, that being timely will make you look mo...

Experts agree that your email behaviour has the potential to sabotage your reputation both personally and professionally. Inc.com wrote a story with some of the industry's most seasoned email experts which had them weigh in on how to perfect your email etiquette. We'll take a look at their suggestions in a minute but right now, I want to clear something up.

I am currently coming to you live from my childhood bedroom at my mom’s house. Yeah, I am taking the week off to visit my mom, sister, niece, nephew, some in-laws and friends. But I didn’t want to break my streak of not missing a week of this podcast since its inception, so here I am churning one out for you while I am “on vacation.”

The fact that I am talking into this mic while I am out of office, brings up something that deserves a proper episode one day but today I am going to cover it as quickly as possible (so I can get back to the rollicking game of “boot the ball as hard as you can” that I have been having with my sister’s kids). And the topic I am going to cover today is: working on vacation.

I am sure that you have read all the articles about “unplugging” on vacation - but I know you and I know you aren’t going to do it. Because of leaps in technology and the nature of our jobs these days, it’s not like the old days when you put your hat on, left the office and that was that - we can work whenever and wherever we like (or our employers like). But here’s the thing: If you don’t chill out and enjoy your hard-earned vacation, odds are that you’re going to burn out, and that helps no one.

So here are a few slightly goofy, not so hard-and-fast dos and don’ts of working on vacation that I found over at FastCompany.com. If you follow at least some of them, you’ll come back to work feeling refreshed and ready to breeze through every item on your to-do list:

DO - find a number two for your out of office email reply. Don’t leave ‘em hanging with a generic “Thanks for your email! I’m currently out of the office and you’re screwed until I get back.” The best OOO message includes someone, someone reliable, to field urgent or easy-to-fulfill requests. Find a buddy, with the intention that you’ll return the favour one day, and you’ll come back to work with happier clients and a much less voluminous inbox.

DON’T - get super personal about why you’re out of office. A quick “I’m enjoying a sunshine getaway!” is fine, but “I’mma gettin’ crunk on piña coladas with my hot bae #speedo #tequila” is better left unsaid.

DO - pick a check-in time and tell your boss. Pick one window when you’re game to check your work email (I like first thing in the morning since I generally get up before my partner), and stick to it. Your boss will appreciate knowing when she can plan to hear back from you and therefore you will be unlikely to get bothered outside of that time.

DON’T - check your email 24/7 and answer incoming messages anyway. If you cave once, you’re screwed. It sets the precedent that your coworkers can bother you at any time during your precious, hard-earned vacation. And they will. Believe me. They will… those vultures.

DO - jump on a project if you have to. If you check your email at 4 p.m. and they really do need you to jump on something, by all means, take action. Go find a quiet spot where you won’t feel distracted and you can get through the task as efficiently as possible. I did this once while I was on vacation in Japan and I swear it bought me more brownie points with my team than anything I had ever done before or since.

DON’T - complain out it to your fellow travellers. It ruins the vibe, man. It harshes the mellow, dude. Finish your work, and then put it out of sight and out of mind. A cold one isn’t a bad idea right now. Don’t mind if I do!

DO - post a crap load of photos on social media. It’s your vacation, and you can post yourself swimming with manta rays if you want to. But . . .

DON’T - add captions of how happy you are not to be at work right now! That’s just bad form. And you do have to go back to work and face your coworkers again… someday.

DO - write down any great ideas that come to you while you are chill. You are relaxed, after all, and that is often when you get creative and might just feel a burst of inspiration while you’re getting a thai massage. Or so I hear. So jot that biz down! but…

DON’T - let that be an excuse to open that laptop and slip into work mode. If an inspirational moment does strike, jot it down in that adorable Moleskine notebook of yours, and promise yourself that you’ll hash it out when and only when your return to the real world.

Now seriously, you've spent weeks or months planning this vacation, from the coolest AirBNBs to the hippest restaurants to the world heritage sites that you just can't miss. Or maybe you are hunkered down in your childhood bedroom waiting for your mom to give you your next chore that she has been saving up for you since your last visit. Either way - Stop. Reading. Emails.

Of people who used their devices for work-related activities while on vacation — even for as little as one hour — just 43% remembered everything about their trip, according to a new study by HomeAway and University of Texas researchers.

And people who broke out their laptops, rather than just their phones or tablets, had even worse memory recall. So, if you were looking for another reason to leave work at the office and enjoy your time off, this is it.

You know, I like to remind myself that considering how many chumps aren't even using all their allotted vacation days, I am not going to be that guy. I am going to freakin’ make the most of my time off and leave the work behind. After all, that's what the out-of-office reply is for, right?

Now, I am going to cut this one short and go make this week at my mom’s count.

**

Workplace Hero is researched, written, narrated and recorded by me Brock Armstrong in Edmonton north of the Yellowhead. Artwork by Ken Cunningham and music… well there was no music in this episode so never mind.