Why bum-in-chair time is overrated.

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Thank you to everyone for all the lovely emails I received after last week’s Leadership Letter. We’re off to a better start this week I’m happy to report. I hope you are as well.

Today, two reminders:

✅ The amount of time you spend with your bum in the chair does not automatically equal the amount of value you create.

✅ The amount of time you spend feeling guilty about not having your bum in the chair does not automatically equal the amount of value you create once you do.

My daughter’s fifth-grade online class is keeping us incredibly busy. Between the endless tech platforms we’re toggling between and the steady stream of new work, I’m crossing my fingers we both don’t burnout by November.

My son’s sixth-grade online class is the complete opposite. Work comes out at a manageable clip via only two platforms and after their one-hour live class at 9:30, he’s done for the day and simply needs to get his assigned work done.

Both have good teachers who are smart, patient and want the kids to do well.

But one favours bum-in-chair time much more than the other. For my daughter, the focus is on the amount of time put in – 1.5 hours of live class plus three hours of work per day. For my son, the focus is on getting the right work done well.

Because I’m helping them, I’m keenly aware of how different this approach is and what the pros and cons of each are. And without burying the lead, it’s clear to me that the value is in the effort and work, not in the time it takes to do it.

School is hardly the only place this shows up. I’ve had three conversations over the past two weeks with clients who feel guilty if they aren’t doing something for their work. They worry that if they aren’t either physically present at the office or in front of a screen, or if they aren’t creating a clear, tangible output, it doesn’t count.

When I worked in corporate, I rarely dared to leave before 5 pm for fear of walking past everyone still toiling away. It didn’t matter that my work was done, or that I had logged a dozen other invisible hours over the past few weeks, what mattered was that I was supposed to be in my chair from 8:30 to 5:30 pm every day.

Because don’t we tend toward valuing our efforts based on hours logged?

And while there’s certainly something to be said for the mastery that comes with time invested, that assumes that all of our bum-in-chair time is deep work that actually develops that level of expertise. Let’s be real: it’s usually not.

My daughter’s teacher is trying hard to duplicate an in-person classroom setting and as such, is offering more than enough work to take up the 6.5 hours a day they’d usually spend at school. But if you’ve ever been inside a classroom, you’ll know that much of the day is eaten up by random questions, bathroom breaks, moving from class to class, shuffling papers around and lunchtime. No kid I know is learning for 6.5 hours a day. (Side note: just like no office worker I know clocks in 8+ hours of true deep work per day either).

The problem, as I see it, is that in his desire to recreate classroom hours, we’re bombarded with tasks with short due dates and therefore, rush to complete them so that we don’t fall behind. Because the focus is on the time required, the depth and retention of learning gets missed entirely.

It requires some unlearning I think because we’ve been conditioned to believe that time on the clock = hard work = success. And that belief has perpetuated a culture of overwork, burnout and success at all costs, despite the fact that some of our best ideas come in our non-work moments (shower ‘aha’ anyone?).

Success should never be measured by the amount of bum-in-seat time you put in, but rather in doing the right things well.

Give your bum a break – your brain will thank you for it.

Steph x

FRESH, HAND-PICKED RESOURCES

Curated links from around the web to help you work well, live well and lead well.

I typically roll my eyes at click-bait headlines like this one, Oliver Burkeman’s last column: the eight secrets to a (fairly) fulfilled life, but this one is worth the read. My favourite suggestion is, “When stumped by a life choice, choose ‘enlargement’ over happiness,” as he posits that we humans are notoriously bad at gauging what will actually make us happy. Instead, we should be asking whether a choice will enlarge us or diminish us.

Along with unprecedented and uncertainty, one of the most-used words during this wild time has to be “pivot.” Let’s face it, most of us – particularly those of us who are entrepreneurs – have had to change or adjust course at some level. And while opening up to new markets or models often makes sense, this article makes the case for why you don’t have to pivot in a crisis. Food for thought.

How homeschooling played a key role in building a $100 million business. This post by Nathan Barry of ConvertKit supports my bum-in-chair argument above. Rather than focus on how many years/grades of school he needed to complete in the standard way, Nathan focused on the work and learning itself, graduating high school at 15.

Have you watched The Social Dilemma? 😳 I have and I’m still processing it all. I’ll write more about it soon, but for now, I highly encourage you to check it out. My husband and I watched it last week, and we’ll be re-watching with the kids over the weekend. For the social media aware, it doesn’t offer up anything radically new, but it does highlight just how insidious many of the tech platforms are at manipulating the algorithms to not only capture our attention, but also to change our behaviour. Must watch.

This episode of Armchair Expert was raw, honest and totally brave. Telling the truth about our failures is hard at the best of times, but sharing about it publicly – with humility, candour and humour requires something special. Kudos to Dax.

Yesterday was Orange Shirt Day in Canada – a day to reflect on the multi-generational trauma caused by residential schools. Over 15,000 children attended these schools, and over 6,000 died. There are still more than 80,000 survivors alive today. Residential schools in Canada ran from 1831 all the way until 1996 and while a common misconception is that it was a good intention gone wrong, the reality exposed through the Truth and Reconciliation Report shows that it was a deliberate strategy to commit cultural genocide.

Read more about the Orange Shirt Day movement and a summary of the Truth and Reconciliation Report.

I’m skipping a new tool in lieu of you taking 30 minutes this week to get better at a tool you already use. Let’s face it, tech can be sexy and shiny, and it can also keep us distracted from what’s already working. This week, I’m using my very favourite tool, Notion, to build out the LEAD.Well Resource Hub (or Digital Garden as I’m calling it).

Identify one tool you use regularly (or want to be) and invest a short window of time to getting better at it.

It’s October and that means I’ll be using a lot of pumpkin in my cooking. I’m making this tonight and I rely on these as a regular family staple.

Sometimes the best solutions are the simplest. Case in point: The Cupboard Sheet. This serves as your go-to list of activities that help you feel better when you’re not really sure what’s wrong. They aren’t miracle workers, but they are a reliable way to engage in self-care over self-comfort.

Autumn whispered to the wind, “I fall; but always rise again.”

~Angie Weiland-Crosby

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If you love my Leadership Letters, LEAD.Well offers you deeper analysis, behind-the-scenes insights, a private podcast feed, monthly events and a growing Leadership Resource Hub filled with my best tools and recommendations.

For the month of October, save 20% using the code FALL20 at checkout. Learn more and join us here.

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