My thoughts, few days before my summer vacation

Now I'm about to go on a long-awaited summer vacation, something I have not always been able to enjoy, and I would like to write and share here the thoughts that come to my mind these days.

I have been working on a book I am writing, with árelía Eydís Guemundsdóttir. The book is about various changes in trends, or patterns, in our environment and how those changes affect how we work.

But for quite a few years now, I have been researching and reading through all sorts of material about the future of work, workplaces, the workforce, and the labor market as a whole.

In the process of writing this book, we did research among people working in HR, giggers working in the gig economy, regular employees with gigs on the side, unions′ representatives, and more. The result, I think, will be very informative for all those that are thinking about these things. The book is expected to be published in the first part of September.

I do not know if it is the book writing, and the research I have been doing in relation to it, that has been stirring up all kinds of new thoughts in my head, or if it is the fact that I have a big birthday this year and I am also a new grandmother, but at least I feel that a lot of my ideas about work and life are changing.

Maybe not changing. Maybe my focus has just been going back to things that I paid more attention to, and gave myself more time for, a few years ago. More than I have allowed myself in recent years.

In short, I am becoming more aware of the value of time. The fact that time passes and does not come back. And that I want to be able to manage my time better, in work and life.

I am also becoming more aware of the importance of good health, both physical and mental, and my responsibility when it comes to being in good health.

Related to this, I was also very shocked recently when I read an article on BBC′s website a few days ago about how many people die prematurely every year, which can be traced to too much work. The article shares the shocking fact that more people are dying from overwork than malaria.?People, in the prime of their life, who exercise regularly and have a healthy diet, are dying from overwork - how crazy is that?

Are you working to live

or living to work?

In the research work related to our book, it was nice to see that there seems to be an increase in people deciding how they want to live and then choosing jobs or gigs to support that lifestyle. Not as was so common before, people choosing jobs or career and then the lifestyle followed that choice.

This June, I taught a short course at the Open University, at Reykjavík University, called Next Steps in my Career. The course seems to have been well received by the participants, I scored 4.83 out of 5 possible, in their satisfaction with the instructor. Comments that followed in the assessment, when asked what people liked best about the course, were for example: "Great content", "Great instructor!", "Herdís seemed well prepared and with good experience in her field", "Herdís shared many good examples and stories and did well in achieving activity in the group". - And then when people commented on what could have been done better one comment was "Would have like the course to be longer, Herdis kept the attention of everybody and course was so interesting and active that I really wanted to stay longer". The participants all had that in common that they were thinking about the next steps in their careers and how the next steps could help them grow in both their personal and professional lives, at the same time.

This fall árelía and I will be offering some courses related to our book, the development of the labor market and how that development is affecting individuals and companies, with a focus on how individuals and organizations can play better and differently in the labor market of the future. We like to say that the workplace of the future is where you want it and when you want it. Individuals and organizations will buy and sell knowledge and skills in the market of knowledge and skills.

Now, however, I'm preparing to go on my summer vacation and I'm really looking forward to it. I have often found summer holidays a nuisance from work, sneaking to the bathroom with my smartphone to read and answer emails - but fortunately, I have stopped such nonsense now.

Now I'm just looking forward to my vacation and I'm going to do my best not to think about work, but to enjoy every day.

?- If I'm going to think about something, it will be about who I am, what I want, and how I want my life or lifestyle to be.

I encourage you to do the same.

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Herdis Pala is an experienced HR Leader, Executive Coach, Management Consultant, and Speaker.