Issue 10 - Old Father Time

Foreword

I used to be one of those people who aimed to be five minutes early to every meeting. I just didn’t like being late. It felt both unnecessary and a little disrespectful to those that had turned up on time. It was so ingrained that I always ran my watch five minutes fast to give me the ‘wiggle’ room every busy schedule demands.

And then I changed. Or rather, Time changed.

I’m now frequently running late to Teams calls or find myself rescheduling meetings at the very last minute. That’s not because they are less important than they were, more that the consequences of rescheduling have much less impact. No one has spent hours travelling to a meeting – and those attending are far more understanding than they were pre-Covid.

“I no longer wear a watch – a concept that would have been totally alien to me just 12 months ago. Whilst this could be interpreted as the reason for my tardiness, it would be misguided. The shackles of the more rigid 9 to 5 daily regime have not just come off; they have been totally dismantled. My diary is more fluid than it has even been. It no longer matters if I play with my son for two hours when he gets home from nursery because I can make the time up in the evening, or early the next day. No one judges or gets frustrated with the personal stuff that now blends seamlessly into my work commitments because everyone has had to accept that juggling has become our life (not just a part of it). I truly hope we do not fall back into the old ways. However, with big tech companies already reneging on their ‘work from home forever’ pledges, it feels increasingly likely, if not inevitable.”

‘New time’ hasn’t been without its challenges. All those extra hours I’ve gained by avoiding travel and flexing my day have been repurposed to make me super productive – or so I thought. The problem is, whilst my newfound flexibility has increased my output, it also feels like it’s accelerating me to a faster burnout.

With ‘old time’ you could unwind on the commute or catch up on some reading or personal calls. Like many, the commute from my office to my home life is now just separated by a door – zero transition time – and that is often the hardest part. Switching my focus from the demands of a global client to finding the right puzzle or game quickly enough demands a whole new level of patience – something that (as those of you who know me will testify) isn’t necessarily a skill I would list on my CV.

Then there is the anxiety I feel when taking time off during the ‘old time’ 9 to 5 regime. I now think nothing of getting up at 5 a.m. and cracking on with projects or working on a weekend if I need to – but taking time off through the working week (if I catch up with my schedule) still feels a little harder to get to grips with than I expected. Clearly with ‘new time’ comes new checks and balances that we need to find. Covid-19 and lockdown are still dominating most work patterns; the trick will be how we unwind our activities once we finally get to grips with the disease. If we get it wrong, there is a risk we will all end up working many more hours than we did pre-Covid.

I find ‘time’ is full of contradictions. I start many calls with something along the lines of “Time is flying by…” and yet end most with “It seems so long since I saw you”. When Sarah Hinchliffe suggested Old Father Time as a theme for BQ10, my mind was instantly awash with 1,000 different ideas. It resonated with me instantly because I’m constantly questioning my time and how I divide it.

It’s just over four years since we launched BQ. The mathematicians amongst you will note this should be our 16^th edition – but hey, it’s ‘new time’ so does it really matter? If Covid-19 has taught me one thing, it’s that my perspective of what is really important was out of kilter – worrying too much about the small stuff and achieving deadlines that were mostly self-imposed.

BQ10 epitomises why I launched Bidding Quarterly. I’ve been blown away by the quality of the contributions from our panel of experts and guest writers – their shared experience, wisdom, advice, guidance, excitement, sadness, vulnerability, honesty and humour is beyond anything we have previously published. It’s our biggest and best publication.

Rick Harris brilliantly kicks us off with some words of wisdom for the younger generation; and words of comfort for those of us ticking the closer-to-50 box.  Nigel Hudson, who never fails to inspire me with his contributions, leaves us on a high with his words of encouragement on embracing the new, staying curious and adapting to the changing world. In between, we have 18 fantastic articles that cover everything from time management techniques to self-care in challenging times, as well as differentiating between common and best practice, and social learning techniques. You’ll learn about reader drag, bid unicorns and diminished attention spans. We also have a brilliant Spotlight feature with Anne McNamara – I strongly urge you to get behind her ReBuild campaign.

I really hope you enjoy BQ10 and take as much from it as I have. You’ll see we are also launching some new initiatives with Win in 60 Seconds, BQ Vault and the BQ Book Club. If you’d like to get involved, I’d love to hear from you.

Martin Smith