Working for the Weekend
I’ve said I was going to start this for a while, so without all the answers, here it goes. What works for MVPs / ‘lean’ principles in startup world should apply here as well: it’s often better to kick things out the door sooner than later, get feedback / critiques, and iterate from there. I’d like to share this as a work-in-progress.
Working around other people is something special: there’s a certain intangible element that seems hard to pinpoint. It might just come down to the simple fact that people are social creatures, and that working by yourself / isolated from others just isn’t that fun sometimes. In tandem with the fact that we’re all increasingly busy and trying to make the most of our personal and work lives. I propose:
Working for the Weekend (#WFTW): a movement to set aside time Saturday/Sunday mornings to get work done amongst friends.
The (open) parameters:
- Who: friends / coworkers / peers / open community invite. Can imagine group sizes of 3-15.
- Time: 9am -1pm? Saturdays and/or Sundays.
- Venue: solid wifi + outlets + desk space. Same spot every weekend or can rotate through cafes or the offices of attendees (I’ve been hosting friends at the General Catalyst office in NYC, will try out in our Cambridge office as well).
- Fuel: coffee + morning snack items (suggestions?)
- Online product: Tumblr / Strikingly / Squarespace? Something to help with invitations, sharing photos, perhaps facilitating communication between the group. Should we design a logo to symbolize this? Or can be as simple as a landing page with this info on it. Or nothing at all…
- Post-session: optional brunch together, or everyone go separate ways to enjoy the rest of day having gotten their work done!
A first take at a ‘manifesto’:
- Do great things: much like the mantra of Asana.
- Surround yourself with amazing people: diverse, interesting, and passionate folks that you enjoy spending time with.
- Collaborate: as opposed to competition or isolation (though there’s of course a time and a place for those things). Share learnings & be helpful to others.
- Engineer serendipity: forging a mix of people, products and conversations can lead to unexpected awesome.
- Time is our most scarce resource: my friend Hugo’s words of advice have always resonated with me. “What people wish for on their deathbed isn’t more money or fame: it’s that they had more time with friends and loved ones.” This sits in the back of my mind each day, I think they’re words to live by.
Related cool stuff:
- Peopleware: this book is a great compilation of insights around teams, project management, and work culture. When reading, keep it mind it was first published in 1987 (you’ll likely come across concepts
- New York Nightowls: when I first read this article in the NYTimes, a light went off. It was so exciting to see this type of community gathering in NYC, and sparked the thought: why don’t we have something like this at Harvard?
- HackNights: at HackHarvard, we started a weekly Tuesday gathering called ‘hacknights,’ a gathering of technologists to work on side-projects together.
- Keeping Saturdays Sacred: Steve Klabnik has the right idea ;)
I’d love your questions / comments / feedback: any ideas on what we can do to make this a productive & worthwhile way to spend part of your weekend would be awesome. For example, this may or may not be our soundtrack…
