Have you ever felt so in the zone and completely immersed in something that you lose track of time? The ideas keep coming to you, your focus is incredibly directed, and you just feel great.
Do you feel this way while on your 6th video call of the day? My prediction would be probably not.
One of the questions I ask our team (and myself) is what types of work makes them feel most fulfilled, in the zone, or in a state of flow. I think it’s an important question for all of us to pause and reflect on because these moments are fleeting in our always-on, interconnected world. Whether it’s push notifications, phone calls, instant message pings, emails, several monitors of “productivity” content, endless meetings, or just life happening around us – there is always something to distract us.
These distractions aren’t all bad – they’ve enabled a way of working, connecting, and collaborating that would have been impossible not that long ago. I love seeing 300+ colleagues from around the world showcase their amazing product work, excited customers engaging in a product demo, or my grandmother’s forehead in a FaceTime call. But balance is key.
Today is “No Meeting Friday” at Pega. We seek to mitigate one of the distractions to give ourselves the opportunity to find these states of flow. There are exceptions, of course: critical customer calls, support issues, and other time-critical situations. But it’s something we’re trying to stick to. It’s not easy. I struggle with it. Time alone can be hard when you’re used to being perpetually plugged in to meetings. And empty calendars can sometimes seem like a golden opportunity to schedule more meetings. But it’s important that we try to cultivate the practice of honing our focus and flow so we can find the right balance.
There’s a trap that can sometimes get in the way of executing this: the guilty feeling that if you’re not in a meeting, you’re somehow not doing work. This one is particularly funny because if everyone was in meetings all the time, there’d be no time left to design, build, and deliver the software that our customers love!
That’s not to say that work and flow can’t happen in meetings. It can and it does. Some of the best work comes from creating “Aha!” moments with customers, learning from and coaching colleagues, brainstorming innovative product ideas, communicating a compelling strategy to drive alignment, or tearing down barriers and impediments to progress.
But you are not your calendar. It doesn’t define you. It’s not an indication of how hardworking you are. It’s not a proxy for progress. It’s okay and necessary to have time alone, find your moments of flow, and deliver some of your greatest and most fulfilling work.
Happy No Meeting Friday! How are you spending it?