Future of Work Roundtable: Finding Energy to Get Sh*t Done
How do we find energy inside and outside of our workdays?
Each month we’re selecting a topic related to the future of work, and getting our team’s hot, lukewarm and cold takes.
The Groove team lives all around the world and brings a wide array of life experiences to the work Groove does -> We’re bringing you a global view on the hottest WFH tea.
Past roundtables:
Our relationship with social media
The highs and lows of remote work
We all have those days where we feel on fire, full of energy and super motivated. We also know all too well the opposite, where every task feels like a slog. This month, we’re asking our team:
How do you find energy inside and outside of your workday?
Taylor Harrington, Head of Community:
Too often when we introduce ourselves, we don’t actually describe who we are, we only describe what we do for work. “Hi, I’m Taylor, I’m a community builder.” Or, even more specifically, “I’m Head of Community at Groove, a digital coworking community for solopreneurs.”
It’s not a very human way to introduce ourselves. Instead, what if we shared what gives us energy — if, in our introductions, we opened the conversation with what lights us up and helps us feel most ourselves, we’d reach a much deeper place of connection quicker.
If someone asks me: What gives you energy inside of work?
I might say: I love meeting strangers and hearing their stories… and dreaming about how to build the opposite of loneliness in the world. And, then I’d tell them about this awesome commencement speech I love. This is a much more powerful way to share why I do the work I do than sharing my job title.
If someone asks me: What gives you energy outside of work?
I might say: I love exploring all the corners of NYC by wandering into coffee shops and bookstores and finding parks full of grass and trees. I love listening to live music, reading outside, playing board games, and bringing friends together for some sort of fun, shared experience.
I feel like you learn a lot about me and my values through these answers. They open the door for a conversation. We might not both be community builders, but we both love meeting new people and singing the lyrics in unison with a bunch of strangers while listening to live music. We can bond over that.
I find that folks who have chosen a wavy career path typically have a lot of overlap in what brings them energy inside and outside of work. They’ve designed this life intentionally, paving this unconventional path. I love building experiences and meeting new people. That’s at the core of my job and how I spend my time outside of work. It brings me energy and helps me feel more me.
Next time, you meet someone new, instead of quickly auto-pilot introducing yourself through what you do, consider sharing what gives you energy inside and outside of work.
Tova Safra, Co-Founder and CDO:
At first, I read this prompt and started listing all the fun things I like to do… but then I realized something: As a naturally ambitious person, the important question for me is the opposite. How do I manage the energy that I have, and make the best use of it? I think if it’s a week or a month where I’m looking around, going, “How can I find more energy?” then it usually means I’ve mismanaged the energy that I have naturally, and I’m feeling depleted, looking for a pick-me-up when the smartest thing for me to do would be to rest, to recharge.
I think that the most effective way for me to maintain my energy levels isn’t about something I choose to do, it’s about choosing not to do the things that deplete it. Sir Ken Robinson, in his TED talk about education (incidentally, the most-watched TED talk of all time), says that all of us are born with innately large resources of creative energy and curiosity — but society and circumstance drain it out of us as we get older.
So I have a few things that I do to try and protect my energy in work and life, the most important being that I often make or do things just for the sake of enjoying them, even if it’s not clear what the final outcome is going to be, or whether it’ll be “useful” or not. It’s so depleting and self-defeating to always be doing things a certain way just because you think you know in advance what the result will look like, so I try not to live that way.
Another big one is not trying to cram too much into one day; I enjoy my work and my life so much more when I can focus on just a few things at a time. When I try to cram too much in, I don’t have time to process or feel what is going on, which really depletes my energy over time.
I think it’s also good to remember that body and mind are not separate — a certain amount of time moving my body each day is necessary in order for my mind to function properly, so I try not to spend too much of the day being sedentary, even though that’s such an easy way to go about your day.
Josh Greene, Co-Founder and CEO:
My main source of energy in life comes from connecting to really big external sources of energy — primarily being in nature and connecting to service and positive impact in humanity.
The power of people and community in all its forms is also a big one. From the people that I work with to my friends, when I need to recharge, tapping into the right people gives me energy.
I feel very fortunate to be on a team of humans where I am inspired by everyone. I feel like I’ve spent a lot of time in my life trying to build meaningful relationships with people around me that can support me and I can support them in return. That orientation towards me giving to others as much as me receiving support — hopefully giving more than I receive — definitely helps me regulate my energy and stay charged in my day to day.
I find that inside my work, the most powerful thing for me to do is to spend time with the people that we’re impacting. When I’m feeling like I don’t have energy, I jump in a Groove and it really transforms my ability to feel great about what I’m committing to doing.
For my work work, I’m someone that spends a lot of time doing both operational detail as much as creative visioning, and the detail-oriented stuff tires me out. So when I partner creative explorations, even brief ones, like a quick phone call or a short thought experiment, into building a financial model or reviewing data, then I find a new source of energy to drive me through the day.
Outside my work, hiking, walking my dog, having structure and having times where I’m disconnected. I would love to say, but can’t right now, that exercise is such a good form of healthy support for me. Just right now, it doesn’t seem to be a real practice.
The biggest one outside work is my practice of Shabbat and being on a committed digital detox for 25 hours every week. Much more importantly than the digital detox itself is what I’m orienting my time towards, which is simplicity, time with my family and close friends, meditation and spiritual practice and reading — all of the things that deeply nourish me. Shabbat is probably the most important, committed self-care practice that I have in my life.
These activities really drive energy back into to the rest of my life.
Like what you’ve read? Check these out:
- Self-Care as a Community Leader
- Why Don’t We Value Being Time-Rich?
- Or, if you’re on a solopreneur looking for more support, accountability and focus join Groove’s online coworking community to get sh*t done and have a good time while you’re at it ➡️ groove.ooo
