Ambition & Balance

From the makers of Todoist and Twist

Hello Ambition & Balancers,

First, some news! The content team at Doist is taking a step back from publishing new articles this summer.

We'll still bring you the occasional product update, but we'll be spending most of our time digging into the archives to make much needed updates to old articles. In the meantime, we'll be using the newsletter to re-share some of our best content from over 8 years of publishing about how we can make the way we work work better.  

To kick things off, I wanted to share a personal favorite of mine by then freelance writer now Twilio's director of content marketing Claire Karjalainen on how she paradoxically found more freedom going back to a traditional 8-hour workday.

In theory, workplace flexibility allows people to live fuller lives free from the 9-to-5 constraints of the office. In practice, the ability to work anywhere anytime often turns into working everywhere all the time.

Somewhere along the way, the seamless integration between work and life became a feature not a bug, as this ad from team chat app Slack sadly demonstrates:

From Claire:

"The dark side of the flexible schedule is that we often pay for it with 9 p.m. email checks and phone calls while waiting for our kids at baseball practice. The same technology and mindset that lets us stay flexible can also compel us to flex right back into work at any time."

As people figure out what they want their work lives to look like in the near post-pandemic future, Claire's story and real-life advice for putting guardrails on your workday is even more relevant today than it was when we first published it.

After all, productivity isn't just (or even mostly) about getting more done. It's about being fully present in every aspect of our lives. So you can focus on work when you're working and fully disconnect — physically and mentally — when your workday is done.

Productively, 
Becky & the Doist team

P.S. Our founder and CEO Amir wrote about his own mental health struggles adjusting to the flexibility of remote work. It's an important reminder that the transition to working remotely isn't always an easy one, even in normal times.

P.P.S. If you have a favorite article from the blog you think we should re-share, hit reply and let us know!

Comic of the week...

In case you missed it...

What we're reading (and recommending)...

For anyone feeling like they're not "good enough": Michelle Obama on imposter syndrome

In our 2020 Diversity & Inclusion survey, imposter syndrome was a recurring theme among Doisters. It never ceases to surprise me how many of my incredibly talented and capable coworkers doubt that they're good enough.

Our head of support, Evert, recently shared this 2019 interview clip from Michelle Obama that resonated with the team. Maybe it's something you need to hear too:

"Truth and the right answer comes from diversity of experiences. You're needed at those tables. So you can't sit there wondering if you belong because you'll waste you're time and you'll hold your voice back...waiting for someone to tell you you belong. I'm telling you 'you belong'. Practice a different set of messages."

Async-Friendly Careers

Doist is part of a movement called We Are Async that brings together forward-thinking teams who operate on shared principles of async-first communication. So their employees have the time and freedom to focus, create, and disconnect.

Check out the job board for new listings at We Are Async companies.

Three or Four Hours

Former Guardian columnist and productivity-writer-cum-life-philosopher Oliver Burkeman writes about the life-changing benefits of accepting we only have three, possibly four, hours of actual productive time in a day:

"The real lesson – or one of them – is that it pays to use whatever freedom you do have over your schedule not to "maximise your time" or "optimise your day", in some vague way, but specifically to ringfence three or four hours of undisturbed focus (ideally when your energy levels are highest). Stop assuming that the way to make progress on your most important projects is to work for longer. And drop the perfectionistic notion that emails, meetings, digital distractions and other interruptions ought ideally to be whittled away to practically nothing. Just focus on protecting four hours – and don't worry if the rest of the day is characterised by the usual scattered chaos."

(Oliver's newsletter The Imperfectionist is one of the few I look forward to reading every time it shows up in my inbox. I highly recommend subscribing.)

From the archives

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Creating tools for a more fulfilling way to work and live.

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