Chris Brogan on work-life balance for the social media professional.
Chris Brogan — events planning pro, Twitter influential, and all-around good guy — tweeted something recently about his long daily commute into Boston. When I followed up with him, he was nice enough to answer my questions about balancing work and “real” life in the face of hard-core commuting. My questions and his answers follow:
How long is your regular commute these days, in distance and in time?
It’s 64 miles one way, which is anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on traffic.Why do you live where you do and work where you do?
I live in a beautiful mill town in view of a river where ducks come and eat from my hand. All the major needs are walkable. The school system is nice, and I’m happy with everything about where I live. I work where the job was. In this case, one of the smarter guys in the events and media business called me onto the team. I couldn’t say no.
What do you find are the biggest disadvantages of a long daily commute?
Besides knowing that I’m killing a dinosaur a day myself, it’s time that I could be doing work instead of looking out the window at the backs of people’s cars.
What do you find are the biggest benefits of a long daily commute?
I can listen to more podcasts. I’m enjoying the hell out of learning more from all kinds of great sources.
What would you change about your commuting / working routines if you could?
Actually, I’m glad to say that I’m going to move to a 3 days on-site, 2 days off-site situation in the next week or two. So that will answer most of it. My job is primarily about the web, except when I’m meeting people at events, so why should I be driving all over the place?
What stands in the way of these changes?
Nothing. It’s just a matter of figuring out team dynamics, and helping teams understand how to measure impact instead of measure by seeing my butt at a desk.How do you think social media can evolve the way that you (and people generally) pursue optimal working routines?
I think the value of work will move towards those things we can accomplish remotely, and those things we have to be there to manage. I’m excited about this future, because though I love people, and interacting, and the environment of a team, I also know that a lot of what we do in an office is fluff, and I want to focus on the things that matter.
Thanks again to Chris for his feedback on this. I think he’s on the leading edge of changes that will be affecting many more of us in coming years.
If you want to improve your own social-media understanding and practice, by all means be sure to read Chris’s blog.
Category: Social networking, The working life5 Comments so far
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I also have a long commute–50 miles–but in Dallas, which is horrible, and can take me from one hour (screaming velocity) to two hours or more (in the rain). I live in a place as peaceful as Chris does, and understand why he doesn’t want to move. Interestingly enough, I also work from home two days a week–Wednesdays and Fridays–to coincide with my kids’ basketball practice nights. What I need is to know some good podcasts, like Chris is listening to, that I can learn from and better myself. I mean, I love Leo, but…
Sounds like Chris is making the best of a difficult situation!
No Mass Transit possibilities at all? That is shocking.
[...] magically get done — or discarded — without hesitation. That’s when we cut out what Chris Brogan calls “fluff” and really get down to the brass tacks of our [...]
It doesn’t matter how far you live or how many hours you need to endure before getting to work, what matters is that you enjoy what you do and do what you need to do.