Work Your Way IS Working
This is a tale of traveling home for Christmas. Well, maybe a tale of traveling home and weaving work into the Christmas holiday. It’s always interesting when you bring a big family of adult children together, but this year I took a special note of interest in how our whole family was bringing their work home with them for the holidays in really unique ways.
Zach and I flew in Wednesday with Bennet and my dad picked us up from the airport at noon. He’s an attorney running his own practice so he’s built that flexibility into his days. My brothers arrived shortly after us and our first day all-together was a mishmash of getting work done, holding meetings, playing with Bennet, eating, and spending time together. It certainly didn’t feel like the old standard for the workday. And it was so interesting to me that we’ve all designed (or fell into) work that lends itself to this kind of existence.
In our family of 6 (with the in-laws) we have jobs in tech, sales, restaurants, education, and consulting. Some roles are completely remote, others have great remote work options, the ownership to take a day off, a benevolent principal who understands work-life balance, or (in one brothers case) a realization that the role wasn’t working so arrived home newly unemployed and happy to take a break and reset after the holidays.
Just a few years ago, all these creative work arrangements would have seemed really unique and strange. But the world is changing. And I, for one, am so excited for these changes!
Because they mean really good things for women. For mothers. We are a subset of society that has always blended our work with our life, multi-tasked as needed, and simply did what needed to get done without sacrificing family time. But now, it’s becoming the norm for everyone. Women and men.
And this means the roles and the work are no longer on the fringe, reserved for mompreneurs, or perhaps not as respected as the more traditional roles. It’s becoming simply work. The way people work. People that want to do good work AND live their life their way.
Have you seen the traditional work world changing around you? Take the time this holiday season to get curious. Ask your friends and loved ones, cousins and parents how the way they work has changed in the last few years.
And get excited! The way you work is working. Not just for you, but for society as large. And that means the blending of work and your personal pursuits is only going to get easier as it becomes more standard practice.
Happy Holidays to you and yours!