They say life is what happens when you’re making other plans, and I guess it’s true for me, too.
For so much of my early adult life, I choose whatever would be “good for my career”, even when I didn’t yet have a career to speak of. I always chose the internship that was far away over staying close to home. I always chose to break up with the person who couldn’t match my pace. I always chose to stay late at the office and then come in early. I always pulled the all nighter instead of sleeping in. I always chose to get in an extra hour of work instead of taking a walk or a class or going to the gym. I chose to drink more coffee instead of taking a nap.
The problem with this philosophy is that when I did eventually want to start putting down roots, my life had absolutely no wiggle room for me to do that.
I was working 60-80 hours a week, even sleeping at the office sometimes - so I had no time to meet anyone, or nurture a relationship even if I did. I had totally screwed up my health, so by the time I was 5 years in, my body felt like it was 80.
At last, I hit a kind of breaking point. I couldn’t go anymore.
I was 27.
Twenty. Seven!
That’s what 7 years of “living for my career” did to me.
I quit my salaried job, much to the concern of everyone around me, and went freelance for a year.
For 12 months, I did something radical:
I slept. I exercised. I saw the sun. I spent time with the people I cared about. I created a work schedule that worked for ME, instead of working 8am to fuck o’clock in the evening.
What were the results of all of this?
I lost fifty pounds.
I met my spouse.
I learned how to manage my own time like a pro. I was doing things in an hour that used to take me a week.
I suddenly wanted to learn and make things again. I was HUNGRY to learn and make things again.
I learned a lesson more valuable than gold: that “living for your work” completely fucks up your ability to care about and make good work.
The ONLY way to (sustainably) make stuff that’s high quality is to take care of yourself. Not just your body, but your mind, your heart, and your inner child, too.
I went back to the salaried world in the end, but I have carried this lesson with me as I’ve grown up in the industry.
In the way I plan coverage for my teams. The way I think about dividing work. The way I think about managing people’s time off.
The way you make good work is with a high-functioning team - and the way you get a high-functioning team is by making sure they get a chance to sleep and have a life outside the office. People who have a life outside the office end up bringing that learning and those insights back INTO the office.
I’m not perfect and I wasn’t always successful at keeping the balance. I’m not successful at keeping my OWN balance all the time, either. But I was successful enough for it to make a difference - a really big one.
I feel immense pride at what the teams I’ve managed have achieved. Awards aren’t everything, but if we’re counting, it’s around 90 major industry awards. Emmys, Clios, Cannes Lions in every color. More awards than many entire agencies receive in their lifespans.
Sometimes people look at me and they believe what I’ve been able to do was a fluke. Or that I’m cheating or lying about my results. Sometimes they assume I’m a taskmaster, cracking the whip on my “minions” 24/7. Sometimes they think I am a genius at “hiring superstars”.
Yeah…there’s no such thing as a “superstar”.
There’s only a talented (or even mildly competent) person who’s consistently getting enough sleep and space to replenish their creative energy. A person who has had 8 hours of sleep and is “mid” is going to outperform a “straight-A Harvard genius” running on fumes every single fucking time. Not by a little. By 10x.
Don’t take my word for it. Read the studies I listed below.
(Now just imagine if you let that Harvard genius sleep. You could run the world.)
If you’re still with me this far, I guess what I’m saying is this:
I thought I was planning for my career - but I had it backwards.
Turns out, having a life is what made the career possible.
XOXO,
Cathy
Further Reading:
A meta-analysis of 45 studies found significant negative correlations between burnout and job performance: emotional exhaustion (r = –0.17), cynicism (r = –0.16), and reduced professional efficacy (r = –0.21) all meaningfully hurt performance PMC+13ResearchGate+13Hunt Scanlon Media+13.
In a cross-sectional study of 240 Egyptian academic staff, high burnout levels were tied to reduced work productivity and increased absenteeism ResearchGate+3PMC+3Frontiers+3.
A European study showed burnout moderates the relationship between work quality-of-life and productivity—meaning high burnout erodes even well-supported employees’ output MDPI+1PMC+1.