Engagement, Energy, Flow: Why I Chose To Go From 6 Workdays A Month To 24

Precious few times in a life - so few you can recount them with great specificity -  you manage to catch every green light.

Maybe you've been paying attention to traffic trends, counting the lapse in time between lights, noting the details that primed you to alter your speed just so, in a manner where - if you ever caught that perfect time of day - in your mind's eye you'd be that much likelier to catch a lucky break.

This is what happened with my new position - right place, right time, right known and trusted folks who were willing to vouch for me.

I happened to possess the qualities, skills and the longstanding network of relationships  that the decision-makers sought in a candidate.

It was a byproduct of a job where I need to play well with whoever else happens to be in the sandbox. I'd spent a couple of decades asking colleagues to get out of the warmth of their beds (when it would be easier not to do so) through an appeal to our shared responsibility to a patient in need.

This unexpectedly opened a door I'd never have thought to approach under ordinary circumstances.

When you, as an underdog, are offered a once-in-a-career opportunity, it deserves serious consideration.

The speed dating that is the interview process is about getting a flavor for your potential future colleagues. My assessment was that these were seasoned veterans I'd enjoy collaborating with and learning from.

First, I sat down with my wife to review and confirm our priorities and nonnegotiables.

• Preserve our touchstone family travel experiences:  our 3 week summer trip, spring break when the kids are off, and winter break.
• Be present when the kids want and need us - increasingly favoring weekends and after school.
• Continue maintenance activities for fitness.
• Flexibility to accommodate irregular days.
• Protect and increase time for activities that tie us to the people and community we care about.

Next we looked at the trade-offs entailed in pursuing this position:

• An office job with the caveat that no one would be looking over my shoulder to watch when I punch in or punch out
• Certain key administrative meetings occurring regularly that I'd be expected to attend
• A COVID-era policy that saw staff working remotely 4 days of 5, which resulted in a verbal assurance that provided I get the work done, I could work up to 2 days a week remotely
• Benefits: health, vision, dental, generous retirement plans - foreign concepts to this ER doc, who (while incorporated to avail himself of certain benefits) had only ever worked as an independent contractor.
• Weekends, nights and holidays off - a simple enough concept for most of humanity that makes me giddy with visions of abundance. You mean the rest of the world lives this way and doesn't pinch themselves at their good fortune?!
• 24 days a month at work instead of a theoretical 6 (in actuality closer to 8-10 once meetings and uncompensated obligations are accounted for).
• A new adventure at a time when the current one was wearing thin.
• An opportunity to spend time diving deep in a new area of expertise precisely when my kids are (age-appropriately) spending more time with friends and in extracurricular activities, i.e., new commitments to replace the playdates my kids formerly spent with me. A distraction from the heartbreak that, in their evolving maturity and independence, they need me less.

So there were clearly pros and cons to consider. Finally, there was the question of whether this job might feed me in the ways I'd come to understand were most important to me in a second act.

• Engagement: Was this the type of job whose varied responsibilities would hold my attention and facilitate my love of going deep on topics of interest? Were the colleagues people who would draw out the best in me and mentor me toward the mastery of new skill sets?
• Energy: Did I expect to come home at the end of most days depleted and resentful of the time the position had been taken from me, or jazzed about the new responsibility I'd been granted, a fascinating new topic I looked forward to reading up on, and the privilege of sitting in the room where the critical decision-making happens?
• Flow: Might I so enjoy facets of the job that I'd occasionally lose track of time, completely immersing myself as I focused on achieving certain goals?

The answers to these questions were an enthusiastic yes, yes and yes. The potential upside felt thrilling when looked at through this lens.

We also tried to understand the downside. In the worst case, if this job does not fit our family's needs and priorities, it need not be a forever decision, and we'd find the right way to fulfill our commitment and depart on the best terms possible with those who had taken a chance on me.

In summary, what might possibly compel a guy who's made such a big deal of controlling his time to swap 6 days a month for up to 24?

• The opportunity to prove myself in a new capacity and master new skills.
• Working with talented people whose personalities complement my own, and who have promised to take me under their wing as mentors.
• The chance to apply the strategic thinking skills I refine during my weekly game night with my tribe of middle-aged dads in a real-world environment.
• The freedom to explore a new role that promises greater possibility for engagement, energy and flow than I experience as an emergency physician.
• Finding something to retire to that keeps me off the streets and out of gangs.
• Finally, if I'm honest, taking on a well-remunerated job that allows me to leave the nest egg untouched or even augment it for a little longer quells the small voice of doubt that likes to consider what a catastrophic sequence of returns might look like if I weren't working longer. It's silly when I review the facts: we could use a 3.5% safe withdrawal rate to maintain our lifestyle, and yet I seem to be seeking an even more comfortable margin for error. Others have labelled this the one-more-year syndrome. I prefer to call it anxiety-free fat FIRE.