How to Turn Down Time Into Deep Productivity

Having worked the majority of my career in the United States, I have never felt a "vacation moment" in the year as one does working in Europe. What is a "vacation moment"? It's when suddenly your slack or email slow down by a good 50% at least, you suddenly have time to look at those lists of "parking lot ideas", but more than anything, there is a general sense and feeling that everyone is on vacation. Only you are not (not yet). When working in Europe, there is always a moment where the majority of the company goes on holiday, and it's usually July or August. In the States, there is a similar sentiment during Thanksgiving which is end of November, but it lasts for all of 2 days, not 4 weeks, and it is also the busiest e-commerce moment in the year, which has historically prevented me from participating in the sentiment that the entire country is off.

Today, working for DX, taking time off is not only an option, it's encouraged, and I really value this type of company culture. In America, so many tech companies offer unlimited vacation, which is often a ploy to actually discourage people from taking time off. Both my parents worked for tech companies in the Bay Area who offered these policies and both felt like no one ever took vacation, and when they did, it was frowned upon. In my career, I've often had 15 paid days a year and that felt like I won the lottery, as standard paid time off in the States is 10 days. My previous job in Europe with L'Oreal, I had 37 paid days off a year, 37! As an American, I felt I hit the jackpot. Once I got to know the company culture, however, I realized that those 37 days were merely a must in order for people not to burn out constantly. Funnily enough, I feel I work as hard, if not harder today, but in a smarter and healthier work environment, one that encourages not only time off, but time for reflection and inspiration, which are very important to marketing.

For the past 5 years working in Europe, I have not followed the European trend of taking 3-4 weeks off in the summer time. What can I say? I'm American, so it will take me a few years to catch onto the trend. As a result, I may experience slower paced weeks when most people are out. For a Type A Capricorn, that isn't always a positive feeling; very similar to what one might feel when starting a new job and not yet knowing what projects to focus on. A feeling I have also tackled in learning how to thrive in a fully remote environment. And adding another layer, the fact that I now live in a small town that becomes vacation central during July and August only increases the "vacation moment" sentiment. Over the years, I've learned how to turn this feeling into something positive; rather than experiencing anxiety of not being productive enough, I focus on a different kind of productivity during the down time. I call it "deep productivity".

I'd like to share how I stay motivated when part of a #remotework culture and things go quiet during the annual summer vacation time:

1. Keep things normal and consistent

When things feel quiet at work, I like to keep things consistent and normal. This helps me prioritize and still accomplish several tasks. It also gives me a sense that business is operating as usual. Not all our customers are on vacation when we are, so it's important to maintain a business as usual attitude. One of my weekly normalities include sharing what I call a Marketing Weekly Dose of Inspiration. This is something I put into place fairly early on in my Head of Marketing journey at DX because I've always seen it as the marketing team's role to inspire, upskill, and keep a company forward-thinking. It's something that can take anywhere from 1-2 hours every Monday morning and involves finding an interesting pieces of content to share with the entire company. I then break it down into the what, why, who, when, and how model and share. So while everyone is out, I continue to deliver this weekly dose of inspiration. Not to mention that when I do go on vacation later in the year, I will want to have accomplished my goals.

2. Focus on deep-thinking work

On a regular week, even the smartest and best organized of companies are flooded with work, routine, meetings, and never ending to do lists. In marketing, there are so many projects that sit in the parking lot that require deep-thinking time, it's important to take a breath and actually get to them. That's what I focus on when things get more calm. This work is really important as it tends to be related to the future vision and objectives of the company. I've spent some time thinking about brand building and what the next phase of that work could look like for DX; no small task and one that requires as much time for the reflection of the prep work as the workshops and action items themselves.

3. Dive into data, analytics, and insights

As a marketer, how many reports do you have saved on your desktop or bookmarked for later? I know that for me, it's a never ending list of things to read. Looking at the results of our marketing efforts should be a weekly and monthly task, and it is for the most part, but when it comes to industry insights and reports, I usually get to those a few times a year when things slow down a bit. We've recently signed up for access to Omdia's Media & Entertainment reports, and it's been fantastic to dive into them over the last weeks. This work is really important because without data, we're just guessing what people want and making marketing strategies based on solely intuition. Data helps confirm what we often know and give confidence for the lane we chose.

4. Focus on topics I need and want to learn about

One of the key areas I've been feeling behind in is all things #web3 #nft and #metaverse. During this calmer period, I like to focus on nourishing my mind with things I want to learn about. I won't learn it all this summer, but I have already upped my knowledge significantly in this somewhat intimidating space. I also learn a lot from our CEO Martin Berg on this topic as well as one of my best friends, Ines Alpha, who is a digital artist and has sold her work/NFT in the metaverse.

5. Breath, take walks, and appreciate the slower pace

And probably most importantly, I try to take the time to breath, take walks, and appreciate the slower pace because we're really only talking about 3-4 weeks here, that's out of 52 in total. If we spend over 90% of the year working under "normal conditions"; meaning: meeting heavy, unable to do deep-think work on a regular basis, and just feeling the general hustle and bustle of everyday life, shouldn't a shear 10% a year of slowing down be an obligation and a requirement, at the very least? I have also found that some of the best vision and ideas for my jobs has come out of this slower pace moment. Just when you least expect it, boom!

It's obvious to me based on #generationz data that the younger generations are already thinking this way much earlier in their careers than we #millennials did. And I really applaud them for that. Carry on.