Best work happens outside of work
These are (almost) unedited thoughts…
This is some kind of paradox. You spend all year working hard, thinking things through, planning, organizing, self-introspecting, meditating, getting a coach to help you, exercising… And your best work is done during the holidays, one morning drinking coffee alone with the sun rising.
The paradox is that if we want this kind of results during the workday, we would need to work less to work better. How many times a developer would get stuck hours on a problem that would solve itself after a good night sleep? What if instead of pushing against a brick wall for four hours, you manage to realize you are stuck within half an hour, meditate for another half hour, and find a solution?
When a designer friend is going to the museum during the workday, he is actually working. Some people would argue that it is a luxury to have time to rest and relax, and that there are more important things at stake. Maybe. But I know that if I was to walk in their shoes, I would be stressed and burnt out pretty fast. And when I am angry and tired, I tend to clean up around me, whether it is stuff or responsibilities. I cancel engagements, quit projects… to reset my mind. I get rid of everything that is not bringing me joy. By keeping my engagements to a minimum, and my belongings organized, I limit the possibilities of feeling overwhelmed.
To some, I might look lazy from the outside, not wanting to pull a 70-hour workweek even though I have time to blog or code side-projects. But those activities make me better at my job and if I was to remove them from my routines, my perspective on work and life would shift. I would start to see work as a financial obligation and lose the passion.
I have never pulled an all nighter for work, because I never put myself in a position where I had to. Some could argue my “career” as a software engineer and entrepreneur is not a great success, because I did not provide the amount of work required. But still, both look pretty good to me, and provide the happiness and financial security I was aiming for.
So I work hard, but keep time to rest, go on holidays, have (sometimes) good ideas, a refreshed mind, and repeat the process.
