Notes from the Road
(by Megan and Sam, yogg’s wandering magi/traveling brand band.)
The following post was written in bits and pieces upon the backs of inflight magazines, hotel napkins, and rental car receipts and compiled for your reading pleasure.
We hear it from friends, coworkers, podcasts, and our doctors: It’s important to have a work-life balance. With email and work apps on your phone and free Wi-Fi everywhere from coffee shops to our car mechanics, it’s hard to log out of technology, and in turn, work. But with us, it’s not about creating this perfect light-switch, work-life balance.
When you love what you do, it’s not just work. It’s life. It’s a part of your being, health, and happiness. There is no balance when they’re one in the same. This thing you do, live, and love is constant and permeates every thought, every conversation, and every part of your brain.
Björn’s Three Antlers of Work-Life Balance:
1. Caffeine is one form of energy, excitement is another.
With little sleep and lots of travel, you should be exhausted. Seeing new places gives an energy you can’t find anywhere else. There is a buzz hidden in the bustle of airport gates and terminals, a moxie in unexplored metropolitan cities, a spirit found in fresh styles and aesthetics, and an enthusiasm experienced when you meet a new client you can’t wait to work with.
This kind of energy found in new experiences and new people not only spurs a fresh perspective, but an indelible energy that lets you push yourself past your comfort zone. It creates a sense of dedication and love for your craft that both keeps you going and renews you. I’m talking a Personal Renaissance, people.
2. A sense of support is essential.
When we are away, we miss our people terribly. We can’t imagine how many dad jokes and concept albums we are missing out on. Back in the Land of yogg, our fellow yoggernauts are keeping things moving, dropping bad puns, and helping us to focus on our new clients while we are on-site.
This constant leaning on each other, whether we are time zones apart or a few feet apart, is essential to us loving what we do. We lean on each other when we feel tapped out, when life happens, or when a presentation doesn’t go as well as we want.
It’s through this constant support that we are able to feel energized and celebrate every win as a team. To put it simply, we couldn’t do it without each other. (Don’t cry Björn, you have to be strong for us all).
3. Workisplayiswork
This mantra means we have fun and genuinely enjoy the work we are doing. It’s a part of our principles. What we call “work” should be why we move from under the covers in the morning, a constant part of conversations with pals and family, and an innate part of the way we interact with the world. It’s simple: love what you do and who you do it with.
When you find the people that are lucky enough to experience this kind of work-life balance, you’ve found your (“work”) home. In the same way your philosophies and goals blend with your coworkers, your outside lives blend too. So, sometimes you don’t just find a “work fam”, you work with people you end up calling your close friends and kinfolk.
We are lucky to have this form of work-life (and love) balance in the Land of yogg. This wonderful fire in the belly feeling is as real and rare as the narwhal. We think it’s worth going out and finding.
