Out of Office Summary

Why do we shape our entire lives around work, when it should be work adapting to our lives?

1. The Illusion of Flexibility

While touted as a worker benefit, flexibility often serves the employer more than the employee. The allure of "setting your own schedule" through gig work, as promoted by companies like Arise, hides the lack of essential worker benefits like health insurance, paid leaves, and basic job security. The image of freedom is merely a facade.

When workers operate out of their homes, companies shed the traditional overhead costs associated with offices, from real estate to utilities. However, this often results in employees constantly working, as their private spaces blend into their professional roles. Flexibility becomes a double-edged sword, empowering organizations while overwhelming workers.

The alternative lies in healthy boundaries. For instance, the four-day workweek trial at Perpetual Guardian demonstrated improved productivity and morale. Similarly, Front’s system of diverting vacationing employees' emails proves how companies can shield workers from interruptions when they're off-duty.

Examples

• Arise promotes gig work without offering basic rights to employees.
• Perpetual Guardian's four-day week resulted in higher productivity and profits.
• Front forwards vacation emails to other workers, creating clearer breaks for employees.

2. Work-Life Blurring

Remote working erodes the division between work and personal life. The authors themselves experienced this. While they intended to gain more time by moving from New York City to Montana, work slowly seeped into every corner of their lives, leaving little space to recharge.

This problem echoes the experiences of many, especially during the pandemic. Kiersten, a new graduate working remotely for a government contractor, initially celebrated her flexibility. But soon, she felt isolated, detached from coworkers, and disconnected from her job. In missing workplace interactions, workers lose out on collaboration and mentorship.

Solutions to protect work-life balance include reinforcing clear work schedules or embracing tools like Kona. Kona's system helps managers stay attuned to team well-being and enables better remote management, emphasizing human connection.

Examples

• Charlie and Anne found Montana did not alleviate work-life blending.
• Kiersten felt isolated and disconnected from her remote colleagues.
• Kona promotes stronger work culture through real-time mood tracking.

3. Misleading Workplace "Families"

Organizational labels like “family” sound well-meaning but create wrong expectations. Family relationships imply deep emotional investment and loyalty, whereas workplaces are driven by transactions and goals.

By romanticizing "family-like" dynamics, companies overburden teams emotionally without offering crucial emotional reciprocation. Workers neglect actual family commitments while prioritizing workplace demands. This misrepresentation also fosters guilt in workers who step back to focus on personal priorities.

Employers can adopt structures that build positive engagement while still respecting boundaries and autonomy. Companies need to support employees focusing on true family and personal obligations, as seen with Art + Logic, which gives its teams complete freedom over their schedules.

Examples

• Workplaces claiming to be "family" lead workers to sacrifice their real families.
• Art + Logic employees choose their timetables, prioritizing personal time.
• A friendlier work atmosphere does not need emotional over-dependence.

4. Failed Office Innovations

Office innovations like open floor plans frequently fail to help workers. The Schnelle brothers introduced open-plan offices to boost teamwork, but employees resented the lack of privacy and freedom. Despite such failures, concepts like "office landscapes" gained widespread adoption.

Attempts to blur the boundaries between work and play, as seen in tech hubs like Googleplex, also backfired. Offering perks such as free meals or gyms aimed to optimize workers’ time around corporate spaces, extending their work hours rather than freeing them up for personal lives.

However, companies like GitLab adopted more employee-driven frameworks. Their unique work processes allow employees across time zones to thrive asynchronously, ensuring work flexibility and fostering independence.

Examples

• Open floor plans caused worker discomfort instead of fostering collaboration.
• Googleplex amenities often kept employees bound to the workplace longer.
• GitLab's asynchronous scheduling empowers workers to define work-life balance individually.

5. Reviving Local Communities

Remote work has allowed workers to escape crowded urban hubs and move to mid-sized towns and suburbs. Programs like Tulsa Remote actively facilitate resettlements, offering financial incentives to remote workers who commit to community building.

This shift enables people to engage with local organizations and social projects. Obum Ukabam, a program participant, immersed himself in community activities upon moving to Tulsa. These relocations symbolize a new lifestyle movement prioritizing neighborhood relationships over urban hustle.

The pandemic reminded workers of their need for genuine connection beyond Zoom calls. This moment enables society to reimagine how remote work contributes to assembling healthier communities.

Examples

• Tulsa Remote offers $10,000 grants to remote workers seeking local community involvement.
• Obum Ukabam joined community initiatives and ran social projects post-relocation.
• Remote work allows workers to engage in social organizations previously overshadowed by urban-centric jobs.

6. A Life Redesigned

Anne and Charlie questioned what they truly desired when time was no longer dictated by work. Anne returned to skiing to connect with her Montana roots, while Charlie picked up a guitar for leisure, unrelated to his productivity goals.

The idea of freedom from work reshaped how they approached life. Instead of waiting for retirement to enjoy basic pleasures, they integrated these activities into their weekly routine. This pursuit of meaningful hobbies can alleviate the monotony often associated with working routines.

Such hobbies prompt deeper questions about our motives. Are we working to live fulfilling lives, or merely existing to work?

Examples

• Anne rediscovered her love for skiing as part of her downtime pursuits.
• Charlie embraced playing guitar as a non-work-related passion.
• Pursuing hobbies mitigates the over-dependence on work to define success.

7. Redefining Job Productivity

Systems rooted in on-demand presence and constant interaction may hurt overall worker morale. Flexible scheduling, asynchronous workflows, and setting clear communication norms help workers balance various commitments.

Successful initiatives, such as art software company Art + Logic and fully remote GitLab, have shown increased satisfaction and efficiency when leaning into these systems. Avoiding rigid timelines ensures both family and work commitments thrive without compromising creativity and ownership.

Redesigning expectations around availability offers lasting improvements to employment dynamics. Authentic work-life policies reaffirm trust and respect between employers and teams.

Examples

• Art + Logic’s flex scheduling allows mountainside hikes or school pickups anytime.
• GitLab encourages asynchronous reports and custom workflows.
• Clear communication boundaries among coworkers respect personal time.

8. Rethinking Community Bonding

Social connections suffered heavily under isolated remote routines. Yet, alternative setups encourage non-work bonding beyond screens. Virtual check-ins like Kona’s daily mood logs blend social awareness with digital tools, ensuring human interaction persists.

While professional mentoring or guidance benefits informal collaboration, meaningful community bonds remain essential beyond office walls. Engagement in local clubs, theater groups, or recreational workshops reconnects personal meaning unlinked from jobs.

Rebalancing the interplay between career dependence and reestablishing hobbies plants seeds for flourishing social networks outside "just work."

Examples

• Kona’s mood-meter avoids emotional disconnect in team dynamics virtually.
• Worker clubs/theater groups—revived today—mirror past workplace-independent societies.
• Non-professional collaborations boost worker happiness, emphasizing non-job-related values.

9. Long-Term Vision for Work Culture

Future-forward employers have started viewing work environments through long-term generational shifts. These strategies value sustainable leadership over short-term profit.

Instead of transitioning everybody back into offices post-pandemic purely for proximity, employers acknowledging systemic pandemic insights create healthier, trust-based models prioritizing individual worker voices foremost always.

By decoupling productivity shortcuts from wider transformative bonds, meaningful conscious design must shape decision-making tomorrow too collectively fueling healthier, modernized shifts imminently.

Examples -An employer-neighborhood council commitment ongoing elsewhere steering newer thinking. -Averting overstimulation barriers inside builds environments nurturing collaborative calm growth attitudes cross-industries-next phases society-expanding better initiatives likely-outline/>.

Takeaways

1. Set firm time boundaries at work and unplug when needed to reclaim personal time.
2. Join or foster your community either geographically (local initiatives) or socially (interest groups).
3. Rediscover hobbies offering emotional solace without connecting achievements impacting corporate ladder imagery/>.