• The Passionate Engineer
• Finding the 6th Day: An Engineer’s Quick Guide to Making More Time Now
• Write in the Rain Notebooks (affiliate link)
• Gloria Mark Interruption Study
• StrengthsFinder 2.0 (affiliate link)
• American Society of Engineering Management
• Andrea Janzen/ Ambition Theory
• Ash Norton Engineering Leadership

El009 – 4 Reasons Going Off-Grid Will Supercharge Your Mind

How creating space can help you land your next big idea.

2020, Pat Sweet, P.Eng., Mba, Csep, Pmp
Engineering and Leadership Podcast
http://www.engineeringandleadership.com 

In this episode, I discuss the value of disconnecting and getting away. Disrupting your normal work habits to make time and space to think deeply can yield wonderful results in terms of generating new and innovative ideas. Everyone needs time away from the office. 

Transcript

[0:00] Hey, everyone, Pat Sweet here. Before we start the show,

I just wanted to let you know about a free e book I have available before you called the passionate engineer.

Perhaps shockingly, it’s not a romance novel featuring Elon Musk. No, Get your minds out of the gutter.

It’s a guide on the importance of falling in love with your work and how to take control of your career, love what you do and be successful. And like my other e-books and guides, it’s free. Woohoo!

Just go to engineeringandleadership.com/passion to download your free copy today. That’s engineeringandleadership.com/passion.

For engineers who want their impact to last, this is the engineering and leadership podcast.

[0:45] Music.

[0:54] Pat Sweet here and welcome to Episode nine of the Engineering and Leadership podcast,

the show dedicated to helping engineers like you thrive. In today’s episode,

I give you very good reasons to get lost.

[1:10] Before we start the show today. Have a listen to this. “Those are just amazing, aren’t they?.”

[1:18] “Can you pick her up from the ground? … “.

[1:22] What you’re hearing is the sound of a family camping trip earlier this summer in Kejimkujik National Park.

My family, in fact. “Keji”, as the locals call it, is about 130 kilometers west of where I live in Nova Scotia, Canada.

This is a place that is truly, truly remote. The park is designated as the province’s only Dark Sky Reserved by the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.

Keji is quiet, secluded, beautiful and rugged.

And this is where some of my very best thinking happens.

As many of you know, I’m an early riser. So when we go camping, I get a good chunk of time in the morning to myself to just enjoy a cup of coffee and let my mind wander. It was on our last trip out that I decided to relaunch

this podcast. I was able to plan the whole thing out in quite some detail, without anything more than a pen and a “Write in the Rain” notebook.

[2:14] As it turns out, I’m not the only one who does this. Bill Gates, who most of you will be familiar with, has taken two “think weeks” a year, far away, in a secret cabin in the Pacific Northwest since sometime in the eighties. In the mid-nineties,

one of these think weeks helped to launch Internet Explorer, which at the time was a very big deal.

Isaac Newton developed some of his most important theories while secluded his family’s farmhouse while trying to avoid an outbreak of the black plague in the mid 1600s.

There, he laid the foundations for calculus, early theories of optics and, of course, gravity.

[2:50] Nikola Tesla, the original Tesla, often worked in solitude as well. He once said

“The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude.

Originality thrives in seclusion, free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind.

Be alone, that is the secret of invention.

Be alone. that is, when ideas are born. In today’s show, I’m going to give the top four benefits of disconnecting and getting away and some practical strategies for disconnecting even in the midst of our own pandemic.

[3:24] Music.

[3:36] The first benefit of the four that I want to talk about is the fact that taking time away gives you the opportunity to think deeply about the things you really do need to think about.

[3:47] If you look back to Episode seven I mentioned one of my favorite lines in the INCOSE Systems Engineering Handbook, and that was “thinking is always in scope”.

In engineering, you need to be able to think. There’s a problem, though, between status meetings, TPS reports, time sheets, emails, more meetings, performance reviews, client calls, site visits, and all the other things that engineers have to do,

there just isn’t a whole lot of time to sit and think. Getting away, whether that be physically or mentally creates that space to think.

And for me sometimes solving a tough issue just takes going to a whiteboard in a nearby conference room to plot things out. Being away from my desk and all the distractions that come with it,

it’s amazing how easy ideas can flow.

In fact, there was a study not long ago by University of California, Irvine Professor Gloria Mark of high tech firms in the mid two thousands,

and that study showed that the average time spent on a particular task was 11 minutes before getting interrupted. 11 minutes.

I’ll put a link in the show notes to The New York Times article that that covered this study, but it’s just remarkable,

how little time people have in our work environments to focus.

[5:08] This makes the regular workday at the office a pretty terrible place for thinking through tough problems, thus the need to get away.

[5:17] Another example of this from my own life is something my wife and I did at the beginning of this year.

But before all of the COVID stuff was happening, we had our first family annual general meeting, a family, AGM.

We booked a meeting room with local, and beautiful, I might add, Halifax Public Library so that we could really think through our family’s values, mission and goals for the year.

And it was awesome. I know it sounds super nerdy, but it was really great,

to be able to take the the year’s worth of thought and discussion and conversations that we had had and finally get it on paper with no dishes, no kids, no house work, no laundry.

There were no distractions, so we were able to use that time incredibly productively, and it’s amazing what can happen when you really dedicate time to thought and create the space for it.

If corporate retreats work for executive teams, why not for you as an individual or as a family.

So again, benefit number one to getting away is it just creates this opportunity for you to think, which is super, super important.

[6:28] The second benefit that I wanted to touch on is that time away gives your mind some time to think and process in the background. So where Benefit number one was more about really dedicating time toward active thought,

taking time away can actually allow your mind to think on its own in a bit of an autopilot.

Getting away can give your mind the opportunity to get clear and break up existing routine thought patterns. By disrupting your regular routine,

you can also disrupt your regular thinking and give your mind a bit of a clean slate.

A lot of the time, the best ideas come when you’re not trying to come up with good ideas at all.

Some of my best ideas come to me when I’m in the shower or doing the dishes, or taking the dog for a walk – times when I’m really not actively working toward any particular idea or solution.

Epiphanies don’t just happen. They follow periods of deep thought on a particular subject.

But after that, something triggers this eureka moment. This epiphany that’s the missing link and giving yourself time and space to allow the mind to do what the mind does best,

to process things, to take in new, unrelated information and to relate it to stuff that’s already in your mind can yield incredible results.

So that’s benefit Number two is

it provides space for your mind to do its thing.

[7:54] Benefit number three to getting away is that your colleagues have the chance to step up and grow.

One of the major issues that leaders and managers have with taking time away,

whether it’s for a proper vacation or one of these Bill Gates style think weeks is that they feel like their teams need them, like really, really need them – are entirely depend on them.

Leaders feel like they need to be available or else things will totally fall apart.

And I’ve got two thoughts on this. The first is that the world isn’t going to fall apart if you step away.

It’s incredibly unlikely that the team just plain can’t get by.

If you were to get hit by a bus tomorrow, would the company fold? Would they send the rest of the team home? Of course they wouldn’t. They’d figure it out.

Listen, you work with engineers. These are, smart, capable, talented people. Thought number two is that if the team really, really, really can’t get by without you,

[8:51] then you’re being away provides an opportunity for the team to grow.

And I had never really thought about this in this way before until one of my mentors mentioned it recently.

When someone takes time off for time away and really empowers the people who are still at work and picking up the slack,

to make decisions and and fill that role, that’s an important opportunity to grow.

This is an opportunity to learn to do by doing. Trust me,

without you, the team will have to sort it out themselves, and that’s good for the team.

And one of the other benefits is by you leaving the regular work environment,

this creates a disrupted environment for the rest of the team, which, as we’ve already talked about, can spur innovative and creative thinking. So it’s win-win, you get the rest, the team gets a rest from you and real

interesting thoughts and ideas and innovation can happen in that disrupted space.

Finally, the fourth thing that I want to mention in terms of the value of disconnecting and really giving yourself space is that without distractions you can actively connect with the other things that are important to you.

Of everything I’ve said so far, this is the most important.

[10:10] You are more than just a engineer or a manager or a coder, or whatever your career is, you are more than that career.

So it’s super super important to nurture and make time for the other things in your life. That might be family or friends or sports or hobbies.

Whatever your thing is, it’s really important to make time to spend on that thing.

This will make you a happier, healthier you. And guess what, that’s gonna help you in the office too.

[10:41] I’m someone who is absolutely guilty of overemphasizing work at times. I’ve been like that since high school.

My StrengthsFinder results include achiever in them, which is a double-edged sword.

On the one hand, it means I really do drive toward achieving certain things. On the other hand, in my own head, it’s never enough, so that leads to overemphasizing work at times.

But in times when I’ve achieved better balance, like when make time to ride my bike or go camping or read, just do normal family stuff like movie nights.

I’m a better me on a happier me, and frankly, I do a better job of the office as well. Getting away is a great way to force that to happen – to really click reset on on your own mental state.

So with these four of benefits, I’m My hope is that it’s clear to you that the next time you have an opportunity to take a vacation or get away, or maybe not even just the opportunity, but to make an opportunity,

instead of just having it happening to you to – make it happen.

[11:50] There are huge benefits that can come from that.

So what I want to do with second half of the main content here is offer some practical ideas for doing that. How do you get away?

I mean, if you’re listening to this in mid 2020 you know, we’re in the midst of pandemic. Getting physically away right now is incredibly difficult. So what can you do?

I think there are two basic ways to get away. You can change your space or you can change your time.

Changing space is what most people think of when they think of getting away.

The extreme version of this would be going on vacation in a far away land. Flying to France would be an example of this, but there are simpler, more straightforward, less logistically challenging ways of doing that.

You could even go to a bed and breakfast an hour’s drive away within your own province or state, even just

changing your scenery a little bit can yield incredible results. And, even simpler than that,

maybe you want to work from a coffee shop or a library instead of your office or your home. Again,

changing your environment, no matter how slight,

can really do wonders for you in terms of your thinking and in terms of disrupting existing thought patterns so as to drive this innovation, these good ideas.

[13:11] Changing time is another really good way to quote-unquote get away.

So, as an example, before we had our daughter, I used to go to the office for 6:30, 7 o’clock in the morning, and what that did, is that gave me a solid hour to two hours before the hustle and bustle of

the office really picked up to give me space to think. So I shifted my work day earlier,

so that I had the personal space to think. Now I often, today, work early in the morning or late at night for the same reasons.

I work a traditional schedule where most my colleagues work what’s called a 9/80 meaning they work 80 hours over two weeks. But they do it nine days, as opposed to 10 days, and get every thenth day off. Now,

I don’t do that. I do, I guess, would be called a 10/80 where I work my normal 80 hours over 10 days.

So every second Friday I’m working and nobody else is, and that’s Pat Sweet time.

That’s really, really, really great in terms of my productivity and giving me space to think without any particular interruptions from IMs, or Slack, the phone or email or anything. It’s fantastic.

[14:21] Now you have to do that, if you do want to shift your schedule a little bit, while respecting your company’s core hours and policies and process and all the rest.

But for most companies these days, there is an opportunity to shift your hours around a little bit, in the very least, in order to create those spaces.

Now, regardless of whether you’re making time or space for yourself, what’s most important is that you’re intentional about it. It’s hard to break routine.

So really try to plan things out, put it in your calendar, and then, once you’ve done that, spend time reflecting on what worked and whether or not you want to try anything different next time.

Like I have mentioned several times already there’s more than one way to skin a cat.

There are a lot of ways for individuals to create time and space so that they can really do their very best thinking.

Whether that’s out in the middle of the woods, in a national park like Keji or at your local coffee shop,

I really would challenge you all to have a think about whether or not there’s an opportunity for you to disrupt your own work, your own thinking, your own environment in order to drive some real innovation in your own career.

Next up, we’ll tackle the engineering and leadership mailbag.

[15:39] Music.

[15:49] Well, you know how this works. This is part of the show where I read your mail, your comments, tweets and messages and answer your questions.

I promise to read absolutely everything you send me, and I’ll even share my favorites here on the podcast.

[16:02] Since the last show, there’s been lots of positive feedback on the fact that the podcast has been relaunched.

So thank you so much, everyone who’s sent your support my way.

I wanted to mention two people in particular here Trish Simo Kush, who I know from some volunteer work that she and I both done with the American Society of Engineering Management.

So thank you so much, Trish, and Andrea Janssen as, well, who’s the founder and CEO of Ambition Theory, which is a coaching practice that she runs. You’re definitely going to be hearing from Andrea later on in future podcast episodes. Really, really excited,

about having Andrea on. I think you’re gonna love her.

And Steve Hudson also commented on LinkedIn on the finding the sixth Day Productivity guide, saying quote, “it is a must read.”

So thank you, Steve. This very kind of you, so really appreciate that. As I mentioned last week, I’m gonna be starting a question of the week. So this week’s question I’d like to know, How do you get away?

And how has that helped you in your life in your career?

If you’ve ever had a eureka moment while kind of stepping away from the keyboard for a little bit, I’d love to hear about it and what your tips your ideas are.

So if you like to answer that question, please do so in the comments section on the show notes.

All you have to do is go to engineering and leadership dot com slash Episode nine.

Scroll to the bottom and you can leave a comment there. It’s as easy as can be.

[17:26] And also, while we’re talking about questions, I’d love it if you would send me your questions.

If you’ve got anything you would like me to tackle on the podcast or any questions you’d like me to answer, you need some advice about a particular situation that you’re dealing with at work.

I would absolutely love to hear it. So again, just fire me

a note in the comments section at the end of engineering leadership dot com slash episode nine And I would be thrilled to spend a whole episode every once in a while just answering listener questions. That could be a lot of fun.

[18:05] Sadly, my friends, that is all the time we have for the show today.

Remember, getting away is important, whether it’s time or space that you make for yourself. The benefits are just fantastic.

Disrupting the regular routine can be an incredible way to supercharge your work and keep yourself in balance.

Next week, we’ll be talking to engineer and career coach Ash Norton about recognition in the age of COVID. If you enjoyed the show, it would be fantastic if you could leave a review for me.

That helps me improve the show and helps others find it as well. So please be sure to do that, using whatever pod catcher that you use.

And if you’d like to read what you just heard, go to engineering and leadership dot com slash Episode nine.

There you’ll be able to find all of the main content, a transcript of the show and all of the links and resources that I’ve mentioned here. So again, that’s engineering and leadership dot com slash Episode nine.

Until then, this is Pat Sweet, reminding you that if you’re going to be anything, be excellent.

[19:06] Music.

[19:15] You’ve been listening to the engineering and leadership podcast with Pat Sweet.

If you’d like to learn more, go to engineering and leadership dot com, where you’ll find more free articles, podcasts and downloads to help engineers thrive.

That’s engineering and leadership dot com.

[19:32] Music.

[19:41] [more camping sounds]

This week’s Question of the Week:

How do you get away, and how has that helped you in your life and your career?

Post your answers to the comments section on the show notes.

Main segment Music Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) by spinningmerkaba featuring Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza. ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/33345. CC Attribution (3.0).

Intro/ Outro Music – Move Like This by spinningmerkaba featuring Texas Radio Fish, Alex Beroza, and Snowflake. ccmixter.org/files/jlbrock44/33397. CC Attribution (3.0)

Mailbag keychee – driptrips – 120bpm – samplepack by keychee. ccmixter.org/files/keychee/32541. CC Attribution (3.0).