Better Things To Do (a way to live & work)
💬“Do you still work here?”
That’s the text message I received from the CEO—my boss—a few months into my first public company CMO job.
It was a culture clash—my unusual work style was a shock to the corporate “butts in seats” system. I’ve always been the odd man out when it came to work. My approach was, and still is:
Get in there. Do excellent work. Get out.
The founder of Patagonia, Yvon Chouinard, calls it the “MBA management style”… Management By Absence.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m passionate about my work—it’s an important part of my life… but not the *most* important part. I have zero patience for meetings-that-should-have-been-an-email, water-cooler conversations, or busy work. I simply won’t participate…
Because I have better things to do.
Work is like air—it fills the size of its container. When work is all you have—when it’s your whole identity—it will consume your whole life. But when you have better things to do, you’ll contain your work. That forces ruthless efficiency—you’ll get MORE done in less time than your peers.
There’s a pervasive myth in the business world that you can’t have a great career AND a great life.
It’s a lie. I’m living proof.
Over the years I caught a lot of heat about my work style from peers… but nobody could argue with the results. And inevitably those peers—including the CEO who texted me—would come to ME for life advice.
The sad reality is that most people *don’t* have better things to do.
In fact, I used to wonder if I was a unicorn… until I moved to Boulder. If you were to drive around Boulder on a weekday afternoon you might conclude that nobody works—people are out & about pursuing their passion for the outdoors.
But you’d be sorely mistaken—Boulder is chock full of hard-charging, highly accomplished people who… have better things to do. They’ve organized their life around those better things, not their vocation.
It’s a privilege that is earned over years and decades—and it only happens if there’s a deliberate plan.
These days it’s a 🚩 for me if someone doesn’t have better things to do. It’s a signal that they don’t operate with the same urgency and discipline, they don’t perform at the same level, and most importantly they’re not nearly as interesting to hang out with.
🤙