Leave It All At Work
What I learned by forgetting something
After backing my truck into my garage, I turned to my right to grab my backpack like I do everyday. Only it wasn’t there. Instantly my heart dropped.
My backpack has my laptop, important paperwork, AirPods, wallet and all the work I carry between home and the office in it.
My first thought was, where the hell is it? Did I lose it? Did someone steal it?
It must still be at the office. I recall setting it on a chair and must have left without it.
Many thoughts ran through my head.
How will I get anything done tonight?
How will I get my writing done?
What will I do without my laptop?
I will be a day behind with everything
Well that settles it. I will just go back and get it, I thought.
There was a problem. It was already after 5:30. The kids were waiting for me and my wife had dinner ready. We also had plans for after dinner already. I was to pitch to the kids so they could practice hitting baseballs and softballs.
I resigned to the fact that my backpack was just going to have to stay at the office. Since all my work was staying there, I decided to take my phone and put it on the charger in the other room.
I decided to try an experiment. No work was going to be done tonight.
One night and an early morning of no work. Zero! No checking or answering emails. No writing. No preparing things for my clients or team. Everything was going to be put on hold. It was all going to wait until the next morning when I got into the office.
There was no thought of work that night. My mind actually felt free. I started to feel refreshed and at ease.
After we put the kids to bed, I was sitting there, looking for something to do. This isn’t a feeling I’m used to.
My routine was all thrown off. Instead of doing work or writing, I had nothing that I had to get done. I was completely disengaged.
We spent the rest of the evening talking and then watched Curb Your Enthusiasm.
In the morning after my normal workout, I would usually spend some time writing. I was unable to do that. So I decided to take a walk before I got ready for the day and took the kids to school.
Want to ever clear your mind and feel at ease? Leave your devices at home and go take an early morning walk and watch the sunrise. What a sight and feeling!
I learned from this experience. Some of the things needed to be reinforced but I’m happy I forgot that backpack. Here are my takeaways.
Allow yourself to get thrown out of your routine once in a while. It will help you more than it hurts you. You’ll end up being better for it.
Disengaged, leave everything at home and go take a walk more often. Especially in the early morning while the sun is rising. You won’t regret it.
Try to find a turn off switch from your work. When you leave work, try and leave work at the door. Yes, I know it’s hard. It’s hard for me. But you can’t let what’s going on at work affect your personal time with your spouse, kids or friends.
When work is off the mind or I’m not worried about what I have to do after dinner, I listen better. I’m more engaged and attentive to my wife and kids. This experience helped me realize that I can do a better job listening everyday.
Everything can wait until tomorrow. It’s ok to turn off the email, phone and computer. Nothing is that important! It can wait!
My backpack will find itself left behind at the office again. Although this time it will be on purpose.
The Coffee Table ☕
Jess Bost pointed me to Adam Grant’s podcast ReThinking where he interviewed the head instructor at Peloton, Robin Arzon. This was a great 39 minute discussion. The part that stuck out to me wasn’t just her story from a near death experience to where she is now, but the part where she talks about being your “best self” vs being your “favorite self.” It really made me think. Well worth the time listening to this.
I just finished watching season 4 of True Detective: Night Country on HBO. It started out slow and a little odd but it finished very strong. The last episode ended with a bang. The fascinating part is that it takes place in northern Alaska during the time of year where they’ll go over two months without seeing any sunlight. So the whole show takes places in the dark and by watching it at night in the dark it makes you feel completely immersed in the show.
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