It’s Okay to Go Outside

I’ve been working and living in Startupland™ for nearly 30 years. During that time, I’ve watched many different cycles come and go. The ebbs and flows of the financial markets, wave-upon-wave of Gartner hype cycles, and the never-ending “hot or not” dynamic of tech. One of the more fascinating cycles that plays out in our insular world involves how we view work-life balance.

While the dot-com boom saw the tech world’s first bacchanalian outbursts, it wasn’t until the mid-aughts that we saw the beginnings of a permanent divergence of startup perks from mainstream business practices. I vividly remember the first time an engineer rejected our offer letter, stating matter-of-factly that Facebook was offering to provide free meals and laundry service…and would we match? (It probably took us 10 minutes to pick our collective jaws up off the floor.) That was early-2007 and, within months, in-house chefs and laundry service and car washes and luxury commuter buses became table stakes for many of the Valley’s tech companies.

The financial crisis of 2008 reset that. It was RIP good times and a return to austerity. We saw the emergence of “hustle porn” and founders who could recite The Hard Thing About Hard Things front-to-back. But it wasn’t long before the work-life pendulum swung back towards “life”, where it stayed firmly for nearly a decade. Even a global pandemic couldn’t dislodge it. But, eventually, another financial crisis reinforced the proverb that smooth seas do not make for skillful sailors.

Pete the Cat knows what’s up

Today, the pendulum has returned to the “work” side of the work-life equation — albeit in a different manner from years past. Long hours and hacker houses are back, but this cycle’s hustle culture has added personal training into the mix. All-day coding with soylent is out, all-day coding with deadlifts and intermittent fasting is in.

Is it better? Absolutely. But is it balanced…?

While there are incredible productivity benefits that come from intense periods of focus, there’s a lot to be gained by regularly getting out of your echo chamber. In fact, there’s a growing body of evidence showing that spending time away from work — particularly in nature — not only has a powerful effect on our health and well-being but improves our productivity.

Attention Restoration Theory — developed nearly 40 years ago — proposed that exposure to nature is not only enjoyable but can also help us improve our focus and ability to concentrate. In a more recent study, Dr. Ming Kuo of the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign looked at the impact that time in nature has on our immune systems. She found that spending a 3-day weekend in the forest boosts natural killer cells by 50% and that the effect persists for more than 30 days (better immune systems = fewer days sick = higher overall productivity).

A 2020 study from the UK looked at the impact that “nature connectedness” (a measure of an individual's sense of their relationship with the natural world) has on mental health. The study found that a high level of NC was correlated with increased happiness, decreased levels of depression and an increase in eudaemonic wellbeing (an orientation towards “growth, authenticity, meaning and excellence” — all key traits of successful founders).

In other words, spending time outside can have a massive positive impact on the effectiveness of founders!

I personally believe that there’s an ideal work-life balance that high-octane founders should strive for. It’s not all-work-all-the-time. Nor is it 9-5 with a two hour lunch break and Friday afternoons off to go snowboarding. The perfect balance is different for everyone, but if you’re trying to beat my friends, you’ve got to be at the top of your game.

Work as many hours as you want to but make sure to find your recharge. Pay attention to your diet, sleep and personal health — it’s a marathon, not a sprint. And don’t be afraid to step back from your screen and go outside. Try a new restaurant. Take a walk in the woods. Talk to someone who isn’t in tech.

You’ll come back refreshed, rejuvenated and refocused.

(Note: this advice also applies to navigating the day after a contentious election.)