This summer I decided to stop working and give myself a mid-life (I just turned 39) summer vacation. After working hard over the last many years starting Envy Labs then Code School, it was definitely time for a reset. So I decided to take three months off and force myself not to work.
In case you’re not aware, I left Code School at the start of the summer. I gave 6 months notice and spent those 6 months learning about succession planning. Ashley Smith and Thomas Meeks are now leading the way at Code School, and I feel confident that great things will continue to happen there under their leadership.
Here’s what I did this summer, and links to the videos I created for them if you’re curious:
- Took an amazing trip with Laura through Italy, Amsterdam, and Iceland.
- Took a 1 on 1 trip with my son to Washington DC.
- Took a 1 on 1 trip with my daughter to Chicago.
- Took a family trip to Vancouver BC + Alaska Disney Cruise.
- Helped out a little with Starter Studio, the tech accelerator I founded.
- Took a trip with Ryan, my best friend from high school to the Canadian Rocky Mountains (Banff)
- Spent at least 5 days a week working out.
- Continued to have lunches with people I enjoy.
- Tried to relax.
What has been surprising:
- It took a good 3 weeks to fully relax. This makes me think that most Americans don’t take enough time off. We take a week here in there, but it really takes at least 3 weeks to fully reset.
- I thought I’d be spending more time gaming. I have a great gaming rig, and an xbox one, yet I’m not playing with it nearly as much as I thought I would.
- By the time I lazily get up out of bed, work out, eat, and shower it’s practically 11:00 and it’s almost time to have that lunch meeting.
- Between housekeeping and financial tasks often a day can go by easily.
- I really enjoy trip planning. Tripadvisor seems to be the best place to do travel research. I wonder what else people use.
- After spending 3 months not working, I was definitely relaxed. But, I was still left with feeling a little unsatisfied. I think it has to do with flow. I need to be doing things that get me back into flow.
What I want to be more mindful of as I get back to work:
- Set aside time for play. I get a great deal of my self worth from my accomplishments, sometimes I let this drive overrule my natural craving to play.
- Better to do something imperfectly then to do nothing flawlessly. Sometimes I give up on a goal because I don’t think I can do it “good enough”. I want to be okay with executing on something that might not be perfect.
- Be more kind to myself. There are goals I’m not going to hit. It’s going to be the end of the day and there’s going to be stuff left to do. I want to feel good about what I was able to accomplish, know that I did my best, and not be hard on myself.
- Spend more time planning. I don’t think I ever learned to do enough planning. Meaning setting aside time at the beginning of the week to really think through what I can accomplish and when I want to accomplish it by. Setting out milestones.
- Set aside 3 weeks every year to vacation. Heh, I’m not sure this will happen for a while, but I might as well aim for the target.
Anything you want to be more mindful of as you get back to work? Let me know in the comments.
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Glad to hear you took some time off and spent so much time with family. They can be gone before you know it! I’ll be interested to hear more about your career goals moving forward and if they were impacted by taking some time off.
Gregg,
Congratulations on such a level of success at such a young age. I have just been let go from Cisco after 23yrs as part of their recent restructuring. So I can completely appreciate all that you’ve written regarding slowing down and resetting life pace. (Funny, I thought I was the one-off whose morning started around 11am)
I want to compliment you on Code School- it is a wonderful site, and I think uses a very good theme for teaching.
As you ponder your next “thing”, have you done any reflection on what is it that fuels you… what gift or gifts just feed your soul and would not be a burden but a joy?
I have an idea, but I’d be curious if you have thoughts there.
I’ve gone through this exercise during the last year (fortuitous timing relative to the layoff at Cisco…) and for me it was critical as it allowed me to not be majorly stressed when I was notified of the reorg. It also allowed me to structure my job search going forward (hey, I haven’t done this sort of job search/applying for 23 yes!)
I wish you lots of rest, and best wishes for the next thing(s) in your life.
Gregg, I applaud you for doing this. Stepping back from life on autopilot, you can identify changes you want to make, and implement them, so that your future is better aligned with your character, goals, and passions. This is super difficult to do when meeting the demands of full time work and family.
I did a similar thing; I resigned my job in March (6 months ago) and am on a 12-18 month sabbatical (with possibly some part time work). I too am seeking to improve my level of internal and external health, and also, like you, to pursue my passion for travel. I traveled to Asia for over 4 months, attending RubyConf’s in India, the Philippines, and Singapore (we met at a Red Dot a few years back in case you don’t remember), doing individual study and projects at coworking places and coffee shops, spent 12 days at an Ayurvedic clinic in India, and several weeks in Thailand during which I got several hours of massage per day. Next week I plan to return to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for an intensive tai chi course.
You might appreciate Chiang Mai — many outdoor activities (elephants, hiking, rivers, mountain) and educational ones (tai chi, Thai massage, cooking). It’s extremely affordable, and you have most of the amenities of a big city but it’s smaller, and less polluted and congested. It’s also more family friendly, not as wild as some of the other tourist areas in Thailand.
In my case, 2015 had some intense positive and negative stresses. My daughter got married (positive!), and both my parents passed away. They were anchors keeping me fixed to my geographic location (somewhat) and a conventional living and working arrangement. These dramatic changes in my life resulted in a drastically reduced responsibility for others, with more time and resources to focus on myself.
I look forward to hearing more about your journeys, internal and external.
The best way to relax is to work hard and to achieve a big goal. Not a big surprise that you feel some imperfection.
Greg, I think you are looking for the rush of creating something new that you don’t have to throw a bank account at to fix the problem. You know now that money is just the score, not the game. If you want to make something more lasting, something that will show your children nature conservation with a meaningful example, help me bring a new technology to every country with a coast line. Hydrofoil body surfing. It’s old school High Tech, something physical, something the millennials never saw their parents doing. Do you want to create a new product?
Glad you took some time to enjoy life with your wife, children and friends. What you said really struck a chord with me “Better to do something imperfectly then to do nothing flawlessly”. I too can get caught in the perfect and miss simply producing something. Thanks for this reminder to just start.
Best always!
Pre-cisely!
The perfect is the enemy of the good.
Before beginning to write and sell books, I took a course on writing books. The first thing the instructor told us is that perfectionist authors never finish chapter 1.
You are an intense person, it’s good to see you enjoying the benefits of your hard work, and finding meaning with your family. Looking forward to another lunch! Best wishes as you look into more fun and exciting challenges.