Five years ago, the fear and uncertainty that came with the COVID pandemic affected everyone’s lives and disrupted businesses across every sector. One of the major shifts was the rise of flexible working.
For some, working from home blurred the lines between work life and home life even more than office life ever had. My client Phil, a Programme Manager who leads multimillion transformations around the world, experienced this first hand. He’s responsible for mobilising global teams and delivering on behalf of his clients. But when COVID hit, he found himself no longer working a “Monday to Friday, nine to five” role. Though in reality, it was already far more than that. Instead, it became a “five to nine, seven days a week” job.
Calls from different time zones meant he was constantly on duty. It wasn’t unusual for someone to show up to a virtual meeting in their pyjamas, whether they were dialing in from the US, Europe, Australia or China. He no longer had time for exercise or to spend quality time with his young family.
The only time he really saw them was in the evenings. Overcome with guilt, he often ordered takeaways or took them out to dinner. He was stressed, or as his kids put it, grouchy. His waistline expanded just as quickly as his energy levels dropped. Brain fog and lethargy made daily life feel overwhelming, with a never ending loop of Teams and Zoom calls dominating every hour.
“Sedentary life is the new smoking” is a headline used by some to highlight the health risks of limited movement. And while that may sound dramatic, there is real evidence that sitting for long periods impacts not just your physical health but also your personal, professional and business performance. Often this happens long before any serious medical issue arises.
(https://academic.oup.com/aje/article-abstract/172/4/419/85345https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2012/11_0323.htm )
For others, flexible working has meant something more positive. They’ve been able to reclaim hours once spent commuting, gain more focus, and balance work around their lives, not the other way around.
This is what I taught Phil. If he was willing to be flexible for the business, he also had to be flexible for himself. It was okay to take back time to see his daughter’s school play, visit his mum, or simply spend time with his wife. It was especially okay to take time for himself. Because if he didn’t look after himself, he couldn’t look after others or deliver on those high pressure projects he was responsible for.
We started small. He put time in his diary for himself and his family and treated it like any other high priority meeting. Sometimes other meetings came in, and we would move things around. But the key rule was never to cancel, only to reschedule.
He embraced the idea and began working on himself both in the gym and at home. It wasn’t long before he felt the difference. More energy. Sharper focus. Meetings became shorter. Decisions came faster. Colleagues even began commenting on how good he looked.
But the moment it all really clicked was when I got a message that simply read, “I’ve just done the monkey bars with my boy.” Even now, I still hear from him about their cycling trips, family adventures, cooking at home and healthier eating. And yes, he’s still delivering successful transformations at work too.
According to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, around 90 percent of companies are now mandating or planning to mandate a return to the office and more traditional work patterns.
(https://www.cipd.org/uk/views-and-insights/thought-leadership/insight/employers-return-to-office-plans/ )
As more people are pulled back into long commutes, sedentary desks and the added stress that some office environments bring, I hope they remember the lessons learned during the pandemic. Working on yourself first isn’t selfish. In fact, being a little selfish makes it easier to be selfless.
You’ve got one life. You should live it.
What’s one thing you could start doing today to take back control of your time?
By Martin Sharp
Martin Sharp is a multi-award winning fitness & lifestyle coach and founder of Sharp Fit For Life. He is also a Speaker, Author and International Consultant who helps busy and overweight entrepreneurs, consultants and business owners obtain the fitness and lifestyle that makes them happier, more confident and with the flexibility to continue to be at their best, after personally succumbing to obesity and working his way out of it. He has featured in ITV, Steph’s Packed Lunch, Woman & Home, Medium, Yahoo Sports, BBC & Telegraph.
