There are as many ways to work as there are people. The schedule of 9am to 5pm five days a week was invented over two hundred years ago, yet many people are sticking to it without questioning. Especially for entrepreneurs, there’s no excuse to follow rigid structures that don’t suit your energy levels or allow for a happy and healthy life outside work.
5 ways finding your workstyle can improve your wellbeing
Introducing the concept of “workstyle” are friends, entrepreneurs, and changemakers Lizzie Penny and Alex Hirst. They have been leading the workstyle revolution for a decade, co-founding a social enterprise, Hoxby, in 2014 to prove the concept. They have helped thousands of workstylers around the world to set, project and respect their own workstyles, and are conducting pioneering research into the link between autonomy, productivity and wellbeing.
Put simply, workstyle is the freedom to choose when and where you work. That should already apply to every entrepreneur, but it can apply to any employee whose employer is switched on to the workstyle way. Penny and Hirst have worked in a workstyle way to deliver projects for some of the biggest businesses in the world including Unilever, Amazon, AIA and Sony. Together they wrote the Sunday Times bestselling book Workstyle: A revolution for wellbeing, productivity and society.
“Workstyle is all about the individualisation of work,” said Penny. “Each having the freedom to choose when and where we work so we can fit our work around our lives rather than the other way round.”
I interviewed Penny to find out how working in an autonomous way can benefit your wellbeing.
1. Show up as the real you
Following the norm without questioning will probably just make you miserable. Grey offices, cubicles, and getting home after sunset were necessary evils of the old way, but not the new way that we can choose. But there’s more. Penny puts forward that, “working when and where you choose enables you to be your authentic self.”
When you design your schedule and plan your surroundings, “you don’t need to take on the behaviours of those around you, resulting in higher feelings of personal integrity.” Working in a workstyle way also means all that matters is your results. “Being judged on your outputs rather than how much time you spend working means you can work in whatever way gives you positive energy to achieve that outcome.”
For you, this might be “living in New Zealand for a few months or going to the gym and for a swim before you start work.” Penny wants you to ask, “If there were no boundaries, how would you work to ensure you are able to be your authentic self?”
2. Find fulfilment in your work
Does your work bring you fulfilment? It could be that you love your role, you just don’t like the admin that comes with getting it done. A commute, unnecessary meetings, and those busybody colleagues you see every day. What if you could remove the fluff and just do the work?
“Individualising work through workstyle can enable us to pursue our own sense of purpose more easily,” said Penny. This happens when we have, “more choice about what to work on without the limitations of location and time and being able to accommodate life’s changes whilst continuing purposeful work throughout.” Glean more purpose from your work or have more time to pursue your purpose outside of work. Either way, fulfilment awaits.
Penny asks that you ask, “If the restrictions of when and where you worked didn’t exist, what work would give you the most fulfilment?”
5 ways finding your workstyle can improve your wellbeing
3. More opportunities for learning
Being measured only on our outcomes brings true autonomy. Free of following defined methods, entrepreneurs, business leaders and workers can learn what works and iterate based on data. As well as results being our responsibility, “we take ownership for our learning so we can focus on what interests us the most.”
Penny said research shows that only 12% of employees say they have been able to apply new skills learned through their organisations to their jobs. They don’t find new answers because they don’t need to. But when working in a workstyle way, if the answer to a problem is eluding you, you can choose to enrol in formal training, speak to friends or colleagues for their input, or watch a TED talk while making dinner.” Workstyle increases the opportunity to learn more new things, from a broader group of people, for yourself.
Penny’s question for you here is an important one. “What are you most interested in learning about and how do you most like to learn?”
4. Hold deeper connections
Workstyle working can drive new and deeper connection inside and outside work. “With control over when and where you work, we can each strengthen the ties with those closest to us by being available for them and making time to be there for important moments in day-to-day life.”
Penny also knows the value of taking a “digital-first workstyle approach” and connecting with people who may be thousands of miles away. For example, she joined the #interest_menopause group at Hoxby and found it profoundly supportive. “Rather than waiting for live events or catching a conversation as it happens in the hallway, you can check the watercooler channel in Slack when you need a social energy boost.” Less being interrupted when you’re in flow at your desk. Work on your terms, engage with who you want to engage with and protect your energy.
A workstyle wellbeing question for you, “What are the connections you would like to deepen if only you had more time?”
5. Look after your physical health
Working in our own style, from our chosen location, means we can make the food and exercise choices that suit our needs. “It means we can make better decisions about what we eat (rather than needing to buy lunch from the sandwich shop nearest to the office) and that we can prioritise exercising regularly.” Not everyone eats their meals at the same time and not everyone works from one chair all day. You do you.
“Workstyle also means we can avoid the health hazards of sitting at a desk all day,” said Penny. “The average working adult spends 9½ hours sitting down each day.” Leverage your autonomy by standing while working or even working while exercising.
See what health benefits mixing up your default could bring. Penny’s final question, “If you didn’t have to work at a fixed time or location how could you be healthier?”
Commit to finding your own workstyle, help your team find theirs, and support each other as you access healthier and more productive ways to plan your week. Show up as the real you for authentic happiness, find the fulfilment that monotony has been hiding, access more ways to learn new things, connect deeper and live happier. All are possible when you find the workstyle that makes sense for you.
