Sussman | energy | cell phones

Dr. Sussman actually believes Cohen has a point. "New technology certainly has made work circumstances change. The speed at which the world conducts business has gotten much faster. You used to wait days for the post office to deliver a letter. Now people are literally responding to the beginning of a proposal on their computer screens while the end is still being written. So the old idea of a vacation where one totally gets away from it all, that that is what's relaxing, is an idea that maybe needs to be re-thought."

Well then, rethinking is what we'll do. Think, think, think. Hey! How about a vacation strategy that involves not totally cutting oneself off? That would, say, cater to the workaholic's need to burn energy? Maybe even make insecure people feel better by doing something, as our mother used to say, "constructive"?

We might see Sussman jump up to embrace us for our perspicacity, were he present. But because we're conversing by telephone, we simply hear him say, "Precisely." Or did we say that ourselves? Either way, armed with Sussman's point of view, we dig around for specifics. Just how would such a vacation work?

First, we defer once again to Sussman. He would not advise hard-working people to leave their cell phones or laptops at home. People in high-pressure jobs - or who simply enjoy their jobs - find it relaxing to work a couple of hours a day while on vacation, or at least to check messages, he says. "Personally, as a doctor, I go to bed easier knowing who's looking for me," Sussman says. "Many of the kinds of people we're talking about would feel more relaxed knowing they can be reached." Just limit your work time, don't call in unnecessarily, and communicate to your staff ahead of time which situations are emergencies you want to know about and which can wait or be handled by someone else. Cohen, for example, alerts his staff that he's available for creative direction, but not short-term problem-solving.