Do The Work You Love Or Love How You Get Work Done

The JLL Workforce Preference Barometer 2025 – has me contemplating this question.

I’m no expert on the future of work or accommodating the needs of 4 different generations in the workplace (I'm just a Gen X'er who started her career expecting ZERO options on the question of “where to get my work done”) – but this topic intrigues me, so here I am musing on it.

Dialing my Gen X career to 1996 - when I was an attorney working in the bankruptcy group at Osler Hoskin in Toronto, I had a colleague who regularly started work after noon. This was unheard of - casually waltzing into the office to start one's day at this hour. So why was it OK for him to do so?  This attorney was most productive at night. He was also an absolutely brilliant attorney so accommodating his unusual work style for the times was not an obstacle for the firm, rather they say the benefit of it. 

Fast forward to 1999, when I’m now practicing law in New York City and seeking a flexible work schedule. No, I don't have kids. I simply wanted a schedule that gave me more blocks of time off, so I proposed a work schedule that mirrored the transactions I was working on (that is, I worked 24/7 on a deal then took a chunk of time off between transactions). The schedule was completely inflexible while the deals were on and had tremendous flexibility in the weeks following the closing of a deal.

Jump ahead to September 2015 when I was writing my first book. With a 4-month manuscript delivery deadline looming over my head, I blocked my calendar and just got my butt in a chair each day to write. In short, the only flexibility in my schedule was the color of the sweats I wore or whether I showered before sitting down to write all day, or after (if at all).

Where, when and how do you do your best work? And does knowing this - where you do your best work -  change your attitude towards the work you are doing?

Back to Osler and the year 1996. Casual attire is assumed today. Back in the 90's, it was a rarity. Osler had casual Fridays (a really big deal) with the option of wearing jeans on those days (an even bigger f'g deal). This is just one example of the collegial low-cost perks the firm offered. I recall being a very content associate (who put in many long hours) at the firm. I recall rather enjoying the work too.

That flexible work schedule I crafted for myself a few years later? No doubt it extended my legal career a few years longer when in hindsight, my passion for the work I was doing was waning - quickly. 

As for writing that first book – I had to quickly become aware of the time of day when I’m most productive (mornings) and then I had to guard that time like a hawk! No coffee dates, no breakfast meetings, no rambling in to a co-working space at 10 am. Complete inflexibility! 

Which brings me to you. And work. And flexibility. And a little about finding your passion – or rather, find your work zone.

Is it a time of day? Location? Atmosphere? Is it a deadline or intense pressure or the flip-side, absolute unstructured freedom?

Notice it, explore why  - then guard it!

If getting work done means giving up your membership in a co-working space to force yourself to work in an uninterrupted zone, then do it! If it means switching from a habit of working from home 2 days a week to going into the office 5 days a week, by all means, switch it up!

If you’re not sure how/when you produce your best work, start making notes in your calendar at the end of good (and bad) workdays. What made a day good (or bad)? Only you can answer that question for your work self. Within those reflections you are likely to discover what makes the world of work tick for you. For you – remember those two words.

And that is not the end of it.

Once you’ve figured out how and when you work best…take notice of the behaviors, habits and work patterns of others you’re interacting with or hoping to connect with or required to work with (ah yes, there is a networking element to this post as you knew there would be).

Back to 1998 and the continuation of my legal career in NYC.

I immediately noticed that lawyers in the Big Apple didn’t start their days as early as those in Toronto (or at least not the ones I worked with). This caused friction with a partner at the firm, once and just once. He was confused why I was leaving the office before him at night (ie the generation which imagined a younger generation should "respectfully" wait till the older generation left the office first). I pointed out that  as I generally arrived at the office 2 or more hours earlier than he did, anything he needed me to complete for him to start his day, would be done, and on his desk by the time he arrived. The partner had not thought through his work habits. I had – and I used it to for my work-life benefit.

Figuring out what makes you tick when it comes to work is only half the work satisfaction equation. Understanding the preferences of those you work with, is the networking half.

Need more?

How to Maintain Strong Friendships as You Move Through Your Career (Kellogg Insight). We can learn a lot from the science of regret as we pursue meaningful work–life and seek close relationships, at the same time.

Two Career Lessons (J in J Kelly) An old interview, filled with timeless networking advice surfaces two timely career lessons.

Sacré Bleu! Wellness Culture Has Come for Paris (Vanity Fair) Moderation, a little less sugar, daily choices - what can the French approach to wellness tell us about ourselves?

True or false: Women are more competitive than men? (The Uncompete Newsletter) "For many women, being in work environments that are hypercompetitive, winner-take-all, and biased fosters highly competitive behaviors..."