Everyone needs some “time off” so that their “time on” is at 110%. Whether your Lebron James or Suzanne Vega, in order to perform at your maximum, you need more than just to charge the batteries, but learn to harness energy, to get more efficient from a constantly balanced reserve. I’m at my best, not when I return from a 7-day backpacking trip, but actually when I’m back from a 2-hour hike, where I was “away” but not away.
I was very lucky to witness Chris Martin for a day of a private Coldplay show we hosted at City Winery this past year. We scored a pre-Central Park warm up gig for a big sponsor and our 300 seat room was turned into a mini-concert stadium, full arena backdrop light show, etc. They needed a special backstage area for Chris to have a heated yoga-studio with cardio machine, mats, etc. I’ll admit I am fan of the band and was exited to offer the conference room next to my office for this purpose. Chris was very quiet and very mellow during the sound check, in fact, hardly singing, his voice whispering to people and he was walking slowly. I was worried, that no matter how strict our backstage covid protocols were that day, he was ill. This was not the rockstar I’ve seen bouncing all over the stage like Mick Jagger in his heyday. But then at showtime, he came down to the stage and almost levitated off the piano bench with energy, singing all his hits loudly and full of the power we knew. It was an athletic performance and I was privileged to witness how he conserved his energy during the day, balancing the internal rhythm of body movement, only to pounce like a martial arts expert harnessing his best for the performance.
We can all do that (well, philosophically speaking, as very few musicians can do what Chris Martin or Beyonce can). The lesson is to do our best to draw power to perform when and where we need it. The performance context I am really focusing is not on the stage of our venue, but on the workplace stage. Never before has “work” been as scrutinized and transformed as in our post-covid world. Hybrid work, work from home, going into the office, time off have become in a few short years critical conversation in employment. The pandemic has changed a lot of rules in the workplace, but nothing more dramatic than the idea of “working from home.” While being forced to isolate for 6 months in 2020 and getting used to zoom for meetings, doctor appointments and funerals; we all learned to both adapt to working remotely and if we are honest, enjoying the luxury of saving some commute time and working from home in our slippers—the ability to integrate the cozy comfy stuff at home with work. The major corporate world had summer Friday’s pre-pandemic; now Fridays and many Mondays from home are normalized for many in banking or tech. 3-day office weeks are in vogue in various industries. The buzz of millennial hiring is: Can I get a hybrid gig being paid full time for only being in the office part-time. It’s understandable.
The reality is--none of this is really that new. When I started the Knitting Factory—way back in the mid 1980’s--my first real hire was Irish bass player who wanted to work Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday as our GM. He ran all operations, ordered all beverages, hired all bartenders, did sound some nights—did it all, effectively running the biz. But he wanted to go to his cabin in the woods Sunday, Monday and Tuesday so he could intensively go fishing. He put in at least 60 hours at work for 4 days a week, made some calls from the cabin, and accomplished his job really well. He was an efficient machine. That is what mattered! “Work hard, play hard,” the old saying is never more appropriate for these passionate people. It’s not about what you do on your time off, it’s how you use your time on.
It all comes down to trust, to dedication and commitment to your job. It is having a sense of responsibility and accountability. It’s over-delivering on your goals, your KPI’s. If you love what you do, if your proud of what you do, you should put everything you have into it. You’re working as hard as you can, you’re not looking at the clock to leave the office at 7 sharp, in fact, somedays, you might be working til 10pm at your desk obsessed with finishing a document and realize, only because of the hunger pains what time it is. That is passionate love of what you do, you have intrinsic satisfaction in accomplishing your gig. Then you go out and hopefully live hard, enjoy life. And if you’re really obsessed, when you’re out of the office you see things that remind you of what you want to do, you put it on the to-do list, and you try and shut off your “work brain.” When that is hard to do, I call it living in the gray zone, that blurry space between work and non-work. We all need non-work, focused time with family, gym, dinner with friends, yoga, binge watching a Netflix series or reading a book, etc. It’s really important to have a balanced life. But you also need to be happy with what you do to earn a living, if not, well, it ain’t really going to work.
So here is where trust and honesty come in. If you love what you do, then it’s not that hard to work from anywhere. Many of us need to interact with our colleagues and have in-person conversations, to look at artwork, to set up a display, to directly observe your team, or meet a client, to really brainstorm, etc. But can calls or emails be done from home, from a cabin in the woods, or from a café in a foreign country—yes we can. One more time, yes we can. That killer and inspired proposal put together from the beach. This article from a hotel lobby after 45-minutes of cardio.
It really doesn’t matter where you work from, so long as you are truly doing the job. If you’re out of the office, you can and should be doing more. And yes, when you report to someone, you should be clearly communicating so they can develop the trust you’re getting the job accomplished. Trust comes from understanding, and understanding comes from communicating. Clear, concise, articulate communication. Work should not feel like you’re punching in and punching out.
Hybrid work policy is NOT, a chance to have Friday’s off, it’s about the ability to turn your work/life balance on. To become happier, more satisfied, and more effective in our short time on this planet.