Greetings from my summer vacation! My summer vacation is about to end and on Monday it’s back to the office. And by back to office I literally mean office. Not remote work, or hybrid work….I mean office work. Packing my stuff in the morning and taking my 15 min walk to the office. I need to remember to book me a space tomorrow (note to myself). Then on Monday I will go to my place, I will set up my MacBook, grab me a coffee and a bottle of water (or some bottles of ice tea peach depending on my mood) and then I will power up my notebook…start checking my mails. And so the day starts. In the evening I will shut down my notebook, pack my stuff, clean the space I booked and will take my 15 min walk back home.
During the office hours maybe another colleague will join me in the office (don’t think so because Mondays are normally pretty empty) so that I can have a break on the 6th floor in the sun for a chat. Maybe we will have an afterwork beer…who knows? But I like it.
Would I be more productive if I stay at home? Don’t think so, even my office back home is far more luxurious and techie than a plain desk in the office with a 24″ 2k monitor. When I’m in the office, I’m at work…when I leave the building, I’m private. Those 15 min to and from the office give me some moments to ramp up or cool down from a busy day. I like that. Esp.
When I read all these “new work” posts I remember the start of my caree back in the days. My supervisor when he welcomed me to the department, my colleague that I met at 6am (while I was sure to be the first one in the company, but I was wrong because his newborn didn’t granted him sleep) so we decided to pump up some Jazz tunes and turn our office to an early morning jazz club.
I remember the bonds that were made during those days. The weddings I attended because we were not just people at work…we were colleagues…friends. That’s not bad. I’d say more the opposite is the case. When sh*** hits the fan we moved closer and faced that challenge together. That was back in the days.
No, I never chose my employer exclusively by the paycheck. The vibes need to fit. I wouldn’t be here where I am today if the people I’m working with didn’t vibe with me. I was offered several jobs in this “new work” area from Berlin to Munich…I rejected because I wanted to go to the office. I want to meet my colleagues and my boss in real and not on a f*** screen. I want to have 1:1 conversations and can look people in the eyes. I want to trust people. And building trust via bits, bytes and wires is much more difficult. Why? Because for me my job does not just pay my bills. It’s a choice I made a long time ago. It’s something that I chose because I think that a job can be part of my world and helps me to be better. I was a book-salesman, I did IT support, I worked as creative and now I am an account lead…why? Because this is my journey … .and along this way I met great people in person…people I learned a lot from…not exclusively within the office hours…but on train rides to client meetings or at afterwork with a beer in my hand.
I was there In person, when Shelly Lazarus held her speech to us Ogilvy employees in Frankfurt or Lothar Leonard in Camp David. I didn’t watch this keynote on a screen. I was there. I met and learned from the greatest minds in advertising in Germany because they were my supervisors and colleagues and I saw them every day in the office. How they could inspire a room with hundreds of people. I didn’t have to wait for some Teams Meeting I saw them every day when they were in good mood or we’re p*** as f*** because something didn’t go as planned.I built friendships that last for decades now.
This is what makes my definition of a job. My job or my office is NOT my enemy. And my job or the commuting don’t steal my lifetime. Yes, my job pays my bills. But it’s up to me how I create this environment. And I prefer to build my environment around people and not a job description or a paycheck. That’s my definition.
And if I ever got and get the feeling that my job is stealing my lifetime… I need to switch the job. Because then it’s not the right one (anymore). But until thiat day it’s not. So, cya in the office on Monday. #justathought
