Remote Control: Mastering the Work-Life Balance from Anywhere

This week, join our hosts as they dive into a lively discussion about the complexities of achieving work-life balance in a remote work environment. With remote work becoming the norm, finding that perfect equilibrium between professional responsibilities and personal life can be a challenge. Kristy, Anna-Lynn, Deb, and Dan are here to share their insights, experiences, and practical strategies.

In this episode, they reveal:

• The top challenges they face while working remotely and their unique solutions
• Deb's tips for staying disciplined and motivated outside of the office
• Dan's advice on maintaining strong team communication and collaboration from a distance
• Kristy's insights on setting boundaries to prevent burnout
• Anna-Lynn's strategies for integrating personal wellness into a remote work routine

With a blend of expert advice, personal anecdotes, and lighthearted moments, this episode provides valuable guidance and encouragement for anyone working remotely. Whether you're a seasoned remote worker or new to the game, you'll find actionable tips and relatable stories to help you thrive.

Tune in and get ready for some practical insights and genuine laughs.

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Chapters

• 1:25 Dan is Far Away
• 5:26 Team Meetings Help Connection
• 7:26 Analytics Island
• 10:37 How Remote has Helped Deb
• 12:19 How Remote has Helped Anna-Lynn
• 18:53 Making Remote work for Everyone
• 20:00 Kristy Lives in the Office
• 23:15 Collab in Person
• 26:06 Be in Person When You Can
• 28:47 Get to Know Your Team
• 32:03 Importance of Connection
• 33:34 Learning Your Employee's Needs
• 37:41 Anxiety and Balance
• 39:45 Be a Team Player
• 42:09 Drawing Closer After Dan's Visit
• 46:36 Special Secret Announcement

Transcript

0:26

here we are again on the free dive podcast and we're gonna we're just gonna hack our way through this one so today expectations oh I mean I always like to temper expectations because that just feels fair so you're gonna love this one love it topnotch quality um today is special because we we have my guest host anelyn and we have Deb we've had Deb a couple times but we've never had Dan on the podcast so welcome Dan for one we've got the we've got the quad of Besties on the podcast today so this is very exciting so today we're talking about um how horrible it is to be uh friends working remote from each other we are forced to be in a longdistance relationship yeah and how terrible that is so we're gonna talk about it I feel like Dan should start us off because he's the furthest Dan I don't even know what country you're in right now what country are you in I am actually today I am in the same country as you believe it or not oh well that's even more annoying actually I am still three hour a three hour time difference from you so I'm in California right now um working on a Visa so I can be in the country that I'm planning on being in okay which ISD far yes that is my life all I heard was you're far away that's all I heard so tell us I was just gonna say tell us what it's like being far away from us and how much you hate that in you know like so I've been to the office a couple times um mostly after covid because Co just kind of messed everything up um and so I was in a during the entire time and it was kind of one of those things where if we moved or sorry if we left to go visit it was basically moving because they weren't allowing people back in um so that actually was hard being remote then because I wanted to be around everybody and just you know like the time difference there was ridiculous it was like 13 hour so it was literally like you know you guys would have a meeting

at 8:00 a.m. well not 8 a.m. 10: 2:52

00 a.m. and then would be on the meeting but it would be 10 p.m. or 11 p.m for me depending on where I was so like that was a little bit of a challenge but I think especially when you get to be in person with people like the times that the four of us were all together um I think because it was only maybe like a few days at a time it was probably less productive than when we were remote um but for sure for sure I think it speaks more to us than does the actual remote culture um correct but I think it's like it's it's nice to be able to be around people especially the people that you work with the most or that you enjoy being around the most in a work environment um so like the remote side of things does definitely have its challenges which is why I'm so excited about this podcast because it's the four of us yeah how do you feel like when you like came back from your visits with us like that changed how you felt about the team oh man yeah it's just like it's so I've been back twice since covid um and each time there were new people in office and even since I went back last there's again there's new people in office so like the next time I go back I'll be beating even more new people um so it's kind of cool being able to keep up with everybody and to have an actual relationship with everybody um because when you're completely remote then it's kind of like okay I I kind of understand your Vibe through a camera or in most cases through an email or through a message like I can kind of guess partly because cpoint is cpoint but then partly also because I can kind of like understand you know maybe your personality your humor um I can kind of like put pieces together remotely but it's never the same as actually like being in front of you and being able to absorb all of that Vibe at once yeah so like when you can when like when when remote and electronic is the is the basis for the work relationship that can be a little challenging when in person is the basis and then remote for however long is the you know the the just just the way it's going to function that's so much easier because I already know the person I already know the real person what I'm dealing with so I think like those visits have been super good for me yeah and one of the things I think that helps too um you've talked about before like we have Team meetings every week um and I've talked with Deb about this too like sometimes when you've had to be remote or you are primarily remote if for some reason like those regular meetings get cancelled it's like your one connection to the team is not there and so do you think that having like the regular meetings it's not like a um substitute for iners but they can do you feel like they go a long way in helping to stay connected with the team I I think it does help to an extent like in a in a work sense absolutely um and I think I also understand why we would cancel them from time to time if there's just not big enough or pressing enough of an agenda then it's kind of like why are we all stopping just so we can get on and even as even as a remote worker I feel that way too sometimes um if it's like or not that I feel that way sometimes but I can understand it I should say because you know do I want to jump onto a call for like eight minutes and hear about something that doesn't actually have to do with me like I don't so I can understand that part of it but I think with the like if we went like an entire month doing that that would be kind of hard um I think just like you know occasionally canceling like it's just necessary it's just it's more productive that way so I can kind of understand that but it it like ever since I've been able to join those meetings it has been so much easier to connect my work with everybody else's work so that is a great thing to yeah and I was thinking too on a side point like there's the big team meetings but then there's different departments different people that work together that set up we set up our own meetings like Dan and I have recently done uh with Adrian and Kevin like we all work on analytics which on its own can be a very isolated um Department to work in just you and spreadsheets and numbers and reports and things so we're like we need a meeting we need to all be able to get together and those are not eight minute meetings um but they're super valuable to have better understandings of each other's jobs and just to have that like you're working together like you would be in office but you're not in office you don't have the commute and that's been super helpful um in keeping um like the group feeling still connected even though we're so far away from each other yeah and one of the things that you do when you're in person is you don't talk only about work stuff like there's a lot of conversation about you know what you're doing uh outside of work or just normal talk you know it's not all directly related to furthering a project or you know you're sharing a meal together or you're doing something so sometimes uh one of the things that I think is really important to do is if you are having to be remote or you are remote to make it work is to have those kind of meetings that are kind of a hybrid of yeah we're going to talk about work stuff we're gonna get there but everybody gets on at lunchtime we're all eating together and we're talking and we're just reconnecting on a basic you know human level friend level and then you know it Segways into oh okay let's get around to talking about about this now it's funny because this whole podcast is the result of that yeah yeah from this morning Andy and I were meeting on to discuss a project and then I had a question for Dan so he hopped in and they were're like hey christe what are you doing and then started talking we need to have do a podcast together and that was all like two hours ago and that's just kind of how things snowball when we don't feel like oh nope the communication the meeting has to only be about the topic at hand and um and especially I know like for analy and I we spend our days at home with our children so having the adult connection as well is nice because we're at home with 12 year olds to deal as our only contact for during the day which is wonderful and that's why we're appreciative of the remote option but it also takes a different brain power for that versus this so you got to kind of fuel both sides you need to talk to adults sometimes yeah so Deb how do you how do you feel like like the remote option has benefited you um the remote option is really the only reason I was able to take this job in the first place um I was at a point where I really um I needed to to go back to work and do something again but after we had started homeschooling um and circumstances were such that I I wanted to continue homeschooling so to do that and have to work around like to find a job I I also live far away from everything I'm at least a 20 25 minute drive from everything so to find something that would have a schedule that would allow me to still keep my daughter at even if I put her in school trying to find work within those six hours plus commute time it just I wouldn't have been able to do it um so the fact that uh C point and bill has been so flexible with come in when you can get your work done from home if you need to like any any hybrid of that is great as long as the work's getting done um the fact that Haley my daughter comes with me to work when I go and she's got a little desk she does her schoolwork I don't have to worry about what's happening with her um I know she's good I get my work done and it's it's just been set up so nicely for us so that we don't have to stress about that separation of work and personal um we're allowed to be more integrated than that and that's been wonderful to to be a yeah so that's that's the only reason that I'm I was able to to do this job at all yeah yeah I feel the same way um I remember when Bill first started the company like way back at the beginning he had reached out to me and it might not immediately when he started C point but I think when he was starting to realize okay we need a bigger team and looking for people he had reached out to me because I've known bill for decades um and he had reached out and said hey do you want to work for me here at SEO and at the time I lived three hours away from the office in kidy and I had just had my daughter and I was like I can't do that no sorry I'm I'm not going to relocate and I just had a baby so no uh but when the last time that he reached out um I was in a position where I was looking for something that was going to be mine I was kind of you know drowning in motherhood and needed like some adult space and really wanted to get back into what I was passionate about and do something with my with writing and um the thing that sold me was he said you can come in person or you can work remotely and I I had like a list of things that I was like well this has to happen if you want me to work for you I have to be able to like if I do come in office can my daughter come with me um you know are you serious when you say that remote is an option or am I going to feel pressure to be in the office like because some can do that some places are like that they're like oh yeah remote's an option but they frown upon it so they'll make it very clear that they want you to be at your desk because that's where they think you're going to be the most productive um but I feel like that's a mistake when you when you take a look at moms especially because we're productive everywhere and um and Bill was just like he measures productivity by you know what gets done it's not how many hours you're behind a desk it's are you getting your projects done um are you hitting your deadline and he's like you can do that wherever you are you can do it here in the office and his he would stress like we were talking with Dan about um getting in person when you can just to make those connections because those can kind of sustain you when you are isolated and remote and away from everybody and can help you not to feel so much like you're on an island um but I think he's the mindset behind providing the remote and allowing people to have space for the rest of their life and work their job into that picture instead of making everything else fit around work I think is what makes them so successful and what helps our remote people be successful because when you don't have that stress I know for me when I don't have the stress of oh my goodness what am I going to do with everything else you know with my daughter with whatever else is going on you don't have that stress then you have more of yourself to put into your job and into your project and into your it just frees up more of what they hired you for so it just seems like a no-brainer and I don't understand the you know push that some companies are making now to just demand that their workers be in office and be like that is the only way we want you I don't understand it I don't get it I think it's a it's a lack of trust in work ethic maybe it could be and I and I do feel like in some cases that's probably valid not everybody is going to be you know diligent about how they are counting their hours or you know logging in and logging off and there there does have to be a level of trustworthiness I think for it to be successful yeah I've seen so many of those memes about people making sure their Mouse is always moving so their boss knows that they're online like have you seen I feel like it's stuff like that yeah some people make it you know give remote a bad name for sure and I and companies do have to like they have to look out for that like that is a concern it's a valid concern but um we're fortunate that bill doesn't babysit us well he doesn't need to either to he doesn't need to I I don't know if it's just because he's a good judge of character or he has you know we'll have to evidence is in the work exact that's the thing that's the thing like he monitors like he's able to look at our time sheets and be like he knows how long these projects are supposed to take and there's nobody who's like wow they took eight hours to write two display ads like what's going on you you know it's there's a level of trust that goes both ways in the company that and and you know we don't have anybody here who's abusing that but that's not the case everywhere either too you know I'm sure bigger corporations there's plent of dishonest people in the world yeah it's harder to Monitor and some feel that the only way to like really police it is to be able to physically see these people in front of you doing the work you know and then they know they're getting their money's worth or they're getting what they're paying for yeah so I get it it's icky but um I do think though that there's I do think that there's um more instances where remote like having that hybrid option it's going to benefit a company more than it's going to hurt it and you make a good point that it does it does go both ways like the both parties have to be able to make it work like the owners need to be hiring trustworthy people to be you know and be able to monitor things not micromanage stuff and then the the employees need to be taking it seriously still like still taking their job seriously you know and just because you're home stuff still needs to get done like it works both ways and both sides have to be stepping up to make it work well um and we're fortunate we have a pretty awesome team that makes it work pretty well because we are all over the place I mean we represent like how many different countries even at Point um and all the different time zones and yeah as long as your client deadlines are met and you're able to be on client calls that need to be that you need to be on other than that work when it's convenient for you to work and get your job done yeah and Christy you're in the office you can't really do your job remotely so you're in the office all the time yeah I Bill Bill lets me live here actually this is my home this is my home um get a couch a food time and a TV yeah yeah he just gives me whatever I want and I live here yeah so there's some things that I can't I can't go I can't do mport I mean technically that is remote um but yeah I can't I can't do it from home I can't do it from home I can't do video work from home necessarily like I can't do recording can't do droning from home so there's certain things I just couldn't do but many things I just choose not to do um and part part of the reason is I used to live like 45 minutes away and I worked from home more often then just CU it was far to drive but it I'm fortunate in that now I only live 10 minutes away I literally live on the same street as the office so it's very easy for me to get here and I just prefer I I think everybody prefers separating like personal life and work life and having like being able to separate in your brain but especially as a creative type for me to be able to be at my work desk here I can compartmentalize easier and be like I'm in work mode and not be distracted as much and I'm very much a I work on Vibes kind of person like I keep the my environment creative and clean and I know I'm in my creative space and I just work better that way but more than that like I just really enjoy being with my people here and that includes in person or like when I get to have meetings like this with people who are actually remote but I'm the extrovert in me I even though I'm downstairs and most people are upstairs and I prefer it like that because I can be left alone when I want to be but like for for each day for Tim to just pop down and just come annoy me and sit next to me and watch what I'm doing like those little moments like it's very good for me morale wise and I wouldn't get that at home um so it's it kind of just keeps me going Bill Bill will pop down and just kind of either chitchat or tell me good job like whatever like i' that kind of stuff fuels me so it's both I get alone time to focus but I also get um like the comfort and emotional support of my people so the times where like everybody's here like really I love but then the times when like almost no one's here is good for me too because I'm just like in my work space so I bully people a little bit to be like please come please come on on they need you so if I had it my way everyone would be here always because I love my people but um I take what I can get I guess I I think it's true too like I think about I I live about 40 minutes from the office so it is a little bit more of a commute and um so it's not always workable to be there every day I have though I I've found that I've tried to be more in person um when life lets me uh because of that collaboration and being able to see everybody and like as a creative person like being down there working with you or across the room from you um and Deb and when we're all in when I'm in person like those might not be the days that I get a lot of writing done right or a lot of editing done yeah but it's when we collaborate and come up with ideas and it it's like a think tank and we just so many things have come from just being being in person and being around each other and somebody saying something and it oh my goodness that's a great we should do this and there have been so many spontaneous ideas that have just been fantastic easier to share and easier to share and so I in person is I think essential when you live close enough to do either or do the inperson or the remote and you have both options itions I think it is important to you know keep that connection and to be in there a couple times a month or however often you can be for that collaborative spirit and just that reinfusion of feeling that you are part of something and if you are 100% remote out of necessity I think being intentional about creating those experiences that feel like an in-person experience like being spontaneous about hey jump on a call with me what are you doing right now let's just catch up for a few minutes um and just talk about what you're working on or you know remembering that there are people there you're not working by yourself you're not alone um and not waiting to have a schedule meeting yeah about a certain topic because that's not how the inperson works you know you're not I will sit down with you in 10 minutes and let's talk you don't at least not in our office that's not what we do I feel like Dan is very good at that I feel I think Dan's very good at that what has worked well for you Dan being completely remote no I I was kind of thinking about that and I think that kind of goes back to the being in person thing whenever you can be because is like when you are in person with people you understand the relationship with the person and that they actually want to like have a moment with you they want you to be a part of their work and I think when you're remote for long enough or if you don't know the people in person you can kind of get into this um I guess I don't know if it's a trap or like it's just it's it's kind of like it's a concern where you don't want to bother people yeah you start to view yourself as like oh I'm just just like you know this needy remote worker that has no like work friends and that's why he's calling me right now and I'm in the middle of a project like that's what your that's what goes through your head sometimes when you want to call somebody or when you want to you know like we'll have an email chain of like 20 emails and I'm like wouldn't this be easier with a call maybe everybody is too busy for that and so then you're just kind of like oh like yeah I kind of needed like human work connections but I'm not going to do that because everybody's too busy that's why we're emailing so it's like if you don't understand the the people that you're working with then that does make it a a huge challenge um and I think that's kind of why I've tried to you know I mean like personally for my own sake for my own sanity like working sometimes it's like I just being able to have a call with people and having those moment of you know like hey the first 15 minutes of this call is just absolute utter nonsense and it's just that that's just there's something just very heing about that for a remote worker bonding where it's just okay yeah exactly yeah it like it it's bonding because you're reconnecting with people but then it's also like I I don't feel like I'm burning your daylight when I'm on this call with you like you guys are actually happy to be there and you're happy to participate and contribute to the the team building nonsense that we do and it's like when we do that then it's just like okay like like yeah we're still friends like we're we're countries apart we're hours apart in time difference but it doesn't matter because it's like we're still a team and so that's like a really cool to be able to just know I can just reach out to people and do that yeah I've made a point personally like anytime Bill hires someone new that's far away to try in the beginning to like reach out to them at least once if not more like when Adrien started like I would I would I would message him a lot and just be like how's it going like are you doing okay like you're fitting in okay like that kind of thing and then like just this morning Kevin messaged me just the most adorable message about our podcast and listening to it um and just like how it's been his way of getting to know us because we've never met in person yet and just like it's his way of like seeing us and getting to know our personalities I just loved and like he then immediately felt comfortable to roast me like make fun of me and I loved that I was just like see look at these look at these new ways we're creating to just become besties like so yeah things like that I think it's I I know when I've had to be I I haven't been able to be in office for a while now and it's can be so easy I think for remote people to feel like they're not essential yeah like the office is still running I'm I'm not physically there but it's still in motion things are still happening decisions are being made I'm not visible and you kind of can start to get this mindset I'm out of sight um am I out of their minds as well like right you know oh oh you're working are you um so you can start to feel like you're kind of on the periphery and you're not really part of what is keeping the agency going or you're not really important or you're not vital and essential and how many synonyms am I going to use and you can just get that you can start to get that mental creep um where you start doubting your usefulness and I think that's really dangerous and I think that's really why it's important when you are remote either out of necessity or temporarily um to make sure that you're still connecting with your team and making sure that you those moments because if you start feeling that it it just can create this dialogue that maybe doesn't even exist but it becomes your reality and it can color your work and what you're producing so it's you have to be really Vigilant about um how you how you do it and making sure you stay connected I think yeah you bring up a good point so let's go around the room here and if like for our viewers and listeners if you guys had to all give a piece of advice or something that's worked well for you um either to employers or employees what do you think your advice would be to make being a remote worker better let's start with Deb um I think to kind of to back off what analine said like just not getting the work done is important but not being so obsessed with just the task that you don't connect and you don't have that relationship with the team um even whether or not you need the team to do your job um that's still important and that's something that can be forgotten when you're in your little bubble um in your office at home and just doing your thing and you can become very disconnected um very quickly so making sure like like she said to prioritize that um stuff as well that is something that I tend to struggle with I get so down the rabbit trail and I get a thousand things going on and you think there's no time for the impromptu hourlong Zoom chat to reconnect with people um but then when it's done you just feel so much more productive afterwards and like okay this is what I'm working for like we are all working together for these goals like it just reminds you of that that you're not in this alone um and that's been super important for me to learn yeah good one what about you Dan um I would for employers I would say just remember that each person has their own circumstances and their own needs um you know maybe some people need to get out of the house and be away from you know whatever is going on in their lives or at home um just so that they can focus on their work and be productive and so they want to be in office some people might need a hybrid of that and some people are just like you know what like the office is just like I just I get too social I get too distracted I get too whatever um so like every person's productivity like you have to learn that and work with that as opposed to demanding that they fit into the type of productivity that you want them to accomplish so whatever that person needs just kind of focus on that and that is what's going to make your company successful because all those individual people will feel like they're they can be themselves when they work but then they can also still be a part of the team that they need to be a part of um and then for employees if you're a rem remote worker um I think kind of going along with what analy was saying sometimes we like there is like a certain level of anxiety about it because you have work that you need to do you wonder if you're budgeting your own lifetime properly um you know you're you're wondering if you're going to be bothering other people you're wondering if people even need you like the only time anybody emails me emails me is when something is on fire so it's like you know like you start to have these like these layers of anxiety that you're just building and those only exist in your head um if you're a person that needs some in-person contact then go get it like it's worth the drive it's worth the plane ticket just go do it and even if it's not about the productivity while you're there you will still like the the team building the morale will be so much higher that when you get back you will be recharged to be more productive than if you hadn't taken that break and gone there um and I think the other thing is just for for if you're a remote worker don't be afraid to say to you know to whoever whether it's a a workmate that you feel comfortable with or to your employer you know hey I like I feel like I'm stuck on an island over here um you know like I like Ju Just Just ping them about something and just getting that little bit of interaction is going to relieve a lot of that anxiety um where you will like a lot of that anxiety is the reason we don't become productive so like if you're comfortable working remote and you know you can just kind of go off somewhere and jam for like three or four hours on your work and just just get stuff done like that's great but there will be days where you won't feel like that and when you feel like your life is on fire and your work life balance is off and all of that like just it's it's okay for that to happen that doesn't mean you're a bad remote worker it just means you need to make an adjustment for that moment and you'll be good and so just figure that out and kind of roll with that um so yeah for employers work with the people and what they need and for employees when it feels bad it's not as bad as it actually feels yeah and you made a good point like the more you feel isolated the more you isolate the worse it gets instead of just like cutting that off and like reaching out and doing something about it big or small I think that's a great point I like the point you made about anxiety too I feel like if employers understood that anxiety about that work life balance can be the biggest Thief I I think that would help them to understand that if they can alleviate some of that anxiety that their workers have if it's if they're anxious because there is no remote option that allows them to have a better work life balance that anxiety is going to rob them of productiv it's going to directly get in the way of their employees producing their best work so if they can be flexible I think flexibility is like the biggest thing be flexible and view them as whole people we Christy and I talked about this a little bit in a previous podcast about seeing them as more than a skill set that you're hiring that you're that they're a whole person they have you know a life outside of work and it's going to directly affect their work so be flexible with them let them work to their full potential by giving them the environment that they need to work in to the degree that you can like not everybody can be as free you know like we talked about how some people abuse the system and you know and aren't trustworthy about it but to the degree that they can be if employers can be flexible then they're they're going to get more productivity they're going to get better results because their employees will be living better lives right and have better work life balances so yeah um for me I would say um I think it's really important to remember to be a team player on your team and kind of remember that like everyone's kind of in it together so keeping keeping your eyes open to opportunities to um like to Dan's Point like reach out but also like spend spend part of your week the beginning of the week and checking in with other people is so helpful when people do that for me it's so helpful it doesn't have to be anything lengthy just someone that you haven't heard from in a bit like hey just thinking of you missing you so it doesn't become oh do you still even work here no one wants to feel like that that's the worst and so when you haven't connected in a bit just thinking of you you need anything how's it going briefly it doesn't have to be an extensive hour call but we've gotten really creative in how many different different group chats are we all in and sometimes you have to silence them but then sometimes like the four of us have bonded on such a deep level because I mean when Dan's here it's unhinged it's like it's like I hate to say it but if you were here fulltime it would be chaos like we can't we cannot even function because we're just constantly being silly and playing but we are all so close because because like we are able to care about how the others are doing and I like I think that in any work environment you know you don't have to be in love with your co-workers but to care about them as individuals and understand that we're you know you're on the same field as them they're struggling with their personal life and getting their work done too and so to be the person that can just be like hope it's going okay whatever it doesn't take a lot and so whatever ways you can get creative with just being a part of the team rather than creating your own Island I think that goes such a long way with helping you helping them and just being likable I think it creates good relationships that are long lasting so it's good for morale and it is funny I was thinking like we've we all worked together before Dan had come for a visit but then that visit like bumped this this whole friendship up to like next level yes and we've been maintaining it now for however long it's been since that first visit when we I have a specific memory of Dan walking out the door and me telling him just leave you've got to go cuz I was crying like walk away now cuz we hugged so many times and I was like you've got to just go you have to just go rip off the Band-Aid just do it and you know what's funny is like I'm back out here in California this is like I grew up here um and like I still have my mailing address here even though I you know we were in different countries and stuff but um I have to come back here for all my Visa work because I still have a California address when I come back and visit my friends you know I'll like I'll repost things that we'll put on the you know the agency like Instagram or whatever and people here are like oh yeah so like you're you're that's one of your work friends right like they'll know who I'm talking about even though they've never met you guys friends have offended yeah it's it's what they know and this is also where I grew up so best friends best friends you mean the loves of my life only the people in my[Laughter] will for anybody watching this this is literally what we do for like the first 15 minutes of our calls and and then after that yeah do not lie you and I have had a creative meeting that lasted three and a half hours this is true this is true I remember that and we did get stuff done so that's the thing it's like we did get stuff done like we're not gonna talk about the percentages but we did get stuff done um but yeah so like yeah like if you're watching this this is exactly what your remote people should feel like this is what it should feel like if it doesn't feel like this then you know you have some adjustments to make in the work in the remote work work environment that part you can get there you can do better you can do better when you know better you do better that's right there you go that that sounded a lot yeah you can get in on your co-workers will is the point you should leave this podcast with if that's not the level you're at what are you even doing right you're wasting time just kidding the best part about this is like there still be times where this will like cut in and out and so I have to fake like I'm like oh yeah I know exactly what they're laughing about oh my gosh you know what it's always funny so you don't even have to worry oh you'd be laughing you always agree it's always funny so there you go don't worry about it there you go concluding comments my friends it's all about the team work culture is just as important as the work itself and if you don't think so then you're not operating at the capacity you could be true and neither are your employees Mike you're if you're going to be their world away from their family their life outside of work then you need to make it a good one or they're not going to give you their best it's that simple yep well I want to use the conclusion of this podcast to announce a special secret announcement that Dan is actually moving to Maine next week Californians need a visa for Maine that's why on it's like a different country out there start this is also a surprise to Dan I know that but um I wanted to announce it to the entire world on this podcast so that everyone including Dan would know start trying to make that happen make sure you tell your wife I I will I will let her know like we like we always say I get what I want always do not listen Tim Tim Knows by now I told him today I was like we're going on the boat today and he was like how about Thursday and I was like how about you do what I say and we go now see what she has to deal with you're I am putting the crown on Christie's head thank you thank you thank you it's not even a question we go when I say we go we're going see Tim should be on this call so he can see like how it's supposed to go you know what it is number one he I don't think he listens to these podcasts so it's fine I can talk about him number two I would even if he did and number three I think it's because he's afraid I'm gonna catch a bigger fish than him and so it's kind of like I'm going to take my Barbie fishing pole and I'm going to catch just like this three foot bass and he's going to be like this sucks that she did that I'm not a man yeah he's been fishing his whole life this is my first time fishing with a Barbie fishing rod you probably like just you'd probably hold up you wouldn't even need the Barbie pole you would probably just toss your tinsel hair look over the edge of the boat and be like and the fish would just jump into the boat into your hands and I could take one of those fish photos yeah how do they hold it by the mouth by the mouth you should get a picture of you holding Tim like that be like this is the only we are officially derailed I have ruined this podcast I'm so sorry watch this be the one he listens to the whole episode to get to this point and I don't I don't believe he will but if he does I love you so much Tim love you bestie anyway that's the free dive podcast thanks for being here with our nonsense I we're going to have to do the four of us again yes what can you do agre agreed so if you're listening and didn't like it sorry like our regrets but obviously you did so congrats like if anyone's listening to this point then they're finding some entertainment value in it yeah of course they are okay everyone say goodbye now say goodbye say goodbye say goodbye bye thanks for being here till next time