Is the 9-5 a relic at this point?

Today’s newsletter is a bit of a departure from my norm, but it still centers around making business more personal, which is something I’m very passionate about.

I saw a post on Linkedin the other day that got me thinking about how unfriendly corporate America is to the modern family and it got me all riled up.

It's funny...

when I was 26 working at startups, I had bosses who were 10 years older than me who never came to the happy hours or fun stuff because they wanted to go home and see their kids.

I couldn't understand it as a single guy working 60 hours / week drunk on koolaid before going out with my other 20-something colleagues to get drunk on somethign else.

But now that I'm a parent? I totally get it.

If I had employees, I'd institute "core hours" of 10-4. No meetings before or after that. Because when parents aren't scrambling around like crazy just to be at their desk by 9 or at pickup by 6, they're better parents and better employees, which in turn results in happier families/better kids.

It’s good for society as a whole to increase flexibility and decrease stress.

One of my great joys as a solopreneur is the flexibility to set my own schedule.

• I wake up to enjoy time with my family
• I walk my kids to the bus stop
• I get to go to the gym every morning at 9am — I’m down 50 pounds since leaving corporate.
• I don’t take meetings on Mondays or Fridays unless I schedule them so that I can be sure to dedicate time to thinking, creating, and planning.
• I get to pick my kids up at the bus & from daycare (sometimes I take them for ice cream or we go to the pool afterwards)
• I never miss dinner
• I never miss bed/storytime
• My deepest work happens b/w 9-11pm after the kids are down.

Compare & contrast that to pre-pandemic life?

• 6:00 wake up & get ready
• 6:30 wake kids & get them ready
• 6:45 breakfast
• 7:15 rush to take kids to (two different) daycares
• 8:00 on the road to get to desk by 9:00
• 5:00 rush out of the office to sit in traffic for an hour
• 6:00 pick up kids from (two different) daycares
• 7:00 dinner

Just thinking about how frantic and stressful it was compared to the life I lead now is anxiety-inducing. I cannot imagine going back to a world like that.

And I won’t.

The 9-5 no longer makes sense in a world where everyone as internet 24/7.

If companies are hiring top talent, they don't need to worry about babysitting them.

And if they aren't hiring top talent, then the first thing they need to look at is their own culture, because top talent can sniff out shitty work environments, and will choose not to work there.

Kudos to companies like Spotify who have been lauded for proclaiming that their employees are adults and will be treated as such — Spotify is a remote company.

To those companies deluding themselves into thinking remote work will never be a thing again? Good luck.

I’m curious…