Forget Serial, forget This American Life and Radiolab—have you listened to Jesse Moore and Margaret Smith’s new podcast? Available on Spotify, iTunes, SoundCloud, and Podbean, Finely Clicked covers everything from business and real estate to leadership and personal development to vacations, primordial sludge, ASMR, and whiskey. Margaret and Jesse are funny, honest, and incredibly insightful.
Last night on my drive home, I listened to their most recent episode on time. As a university instructor and freelancer, I often struggle with time. Unlike some 9 to 5 positions, my jobs involve strange hours; typically, there are 2 to 6 hours each day when I need to show up at specific times to teach various classes and meetings. When the rest of the work happens—the lesson planning, emailing, researching, writing, grading—is entirely up to me, which means I regularly work evenings and weekends.
I’ve also been recently discussing the importance of community and connection, which this episode discusses, with my college classes—according to a recent Harvard study, investing time in healthy relationships actually helps you live longer! As such, my favorite part about this episode was the way it shows how time relates to human connection, an idea that plays such a key role in all of Pickett Street’s work. Here are a few key points that I took away from Jesse and Margaret’s chat.
1. 411 meetings
“As a rainmaker, I value my time more than anything,” Jesse said. “And this is the best way to benefit your admin: giving something that you prioritize so much.” Margaret and Jesse explained how they utilize weekly “411s” to check in with each other and set goals, and that those in leadership positions should offer their employees one hour of the time per 40 hour work week. Setting aside this space to connect plays a critical role in keeping professional communities such as Pickett Street healthy and thriving.
2. Time-blocking
Margaret and Jesse also emphasized how much they rely on setting aside time for not only specific work tasks but also self-care. Margaret typically finishes her workday at 5pm, which she noted feels like a luxury in a world where many administrators work much later hours. “People constantly need things from me—which is why I’m really purposeful about doing things for myself, doing yoga, getting massages.”
Jesse also discussed how nights and weekend are sacred for family and personal time. “You make priorities at work, great,” he said, “but are you doing the same thing at home, for your own mental health? Are you blocking off time just for yourself and just for your family?” He added, “Now that my kids are getting phones, I don’t want to model for them that I’m on the phone all the time because when I tell them to put their phones down, they won’t listen to me.”
Both Margaret and Jesse emphasized how important taking regular personal time is to producing quality work and just generally remaining a pleasant person. While it may feel scary to leave work behind, your professional community can typically figure things out on their own and will often learn things based on the experience of doing without you. Jesse ended the episode by noting that he likes to let things go and “embrace the chaos.” Wise words indeed.
If you haven’t listened to their podcast yet, I highly recommend trying it whenever you have a free hour this weekend. Listening to these smart, balanced discussions about life in the modern business world feels like sitting down at happy hour with old friends. Margaret and Jesse’s Finely Clicked demonstrates, once again, how Pickett Street’s work really is all about positive professional relationships and human connection.
For more insights and information, contact the Pickett Street Team at info@pickettstreet.com or 425-502-5397.