I hate going on holiday in August. But this year, I decided that if you can't beat them...

Would you believe that by the time you read this, I'll actually be on holiday? It's so long since I had a proper break that I'm not sure I'll remember how to do it. So not much of an update on the last week today, I'm afraid, for the obvious reason that - hopefully - I won't have seen or spoken to any of my staff all week. I'm not sure who's happier about that prospect, me or them.

I always find going on holiday an incredibly stressful experience. Not the trip itself, but finding the right time to go. There's always something going on at work that you feel like you ought to be there for, or you worry about someone else being away at the same time, or... Well, ok, some of them are probably just feeble excuses for the fact that you just don't want to leave your baby all on its own. But it is hard to find a good time.

Also, I hate going away in August. It seems completely perverse, when you have the choice of the whole year, to go away at a time when a) it's the sunniest month of the year in the UK (supposedly), b) holidays are twice as expensive as normal,and c) everywhere you go is chock-full of Brits abroad (which is exactly my idea of hell).

But I'm increasingly feeling these days like I haven't got a choice in the matter. It's become a vicious circle, a sort of nationwide conspiracy - because so many decision-makers go away in August, for the benefit of their children, all kinds of business activity basically grinds to a halt for the whole month.

I was in a meeting the other day, which had gone really well, and when we were working out next steps this guy said, 'Well, why don't we pick this up early September, most of us disappear for August.' I mean, how ridiculous is that? That's just writing off an entire month - one-twelfth of the year.

The thing is, though, what I think doesn't really matter. As long as people keep treating August like a holiday month, and refuse to do anything useful, I might as well fall into line and go on holiday too. Chances are that I'll be missing less this week than at any other time of the year (with the possible exception of Christmas week - the only period more expensive than this one). And so, slightly against my will and completely against my better judgement, I find myself paying through the nose to go away this week.

Still, I don't intend to let any of the above spoil my enjoyment of the whole thing, you understand. In fact, I'm quite excited about the fact that I'll hopefully be sipping on something with an umbrella even as you read this. I really need to take more holidays...