Work-from-anywhere or not a good idea? [duplicate]

Question

I started my job couple months ago and I want to go see my family in another country for two weeks.

I also want to focus on my work since I am working at a slow pace and my manager has also showed concerns. So I really don’t want to take a 2 week vacation right now.

Originally I asked my manager for a vacation and it didn’t have the best outcome so I canceled my plans. But my manager has recently said that he’s fine with me taking this “vacation” so I am wondering does it still look bad to go so soon after joining, if I continue to work while im away? (Some people in my team are still 100% remote so it can work) and I will be able to attend all the team meetings as well.

If anyone has taken work-from-anywhere weeks, my other concern is that realistically is it possible to focus on work while being in a mix vacation/work situation because I do not want to compromise my work during this trip. (I had problems in the past with remote work from home)

How can I phrase this request while not sounding like I am putting less priority on my work.

Answer 1

I am wondering does it still look bad to go so soon after joining,

Yes. Especially since you already have performance issues.

is it possible to focus on work while being in a mix vacation/work situation

Yes, but it requires a fair bit of organizational skill and self discipline. It's definitely harder than being in the office.

(I had problems in the past with remote work from home)

That does NOT help.

But my manager has recently said that he’s fine with me taking this “vacation”

That means he is either a really nice and understanding person or he has already given up on you and just let you dig your own hole deeper.

So overall that does NOT look like a good idea: you have performance problems and a poor track record of working remotely. I would recommend focusing on getting your current work results up to expectations before doing anything else.

How can I phrase this request while not sounding like I am putting less priority on my work.

If you still want to try you can engage with your boss and make sure you have well defined assignments for your remote work with with quantitative performance metrics and goals. Track this metrics carefully and do whatever it takes to hit the agreed upon goals. If you don't trust yourself doing this, don't go