I went on an international tour last year and only took 4 days of PTO to do it.

For context: Outside of my work at @Buffer, I am a musician. My current thing is primarily a “studio act” – I haven’t performed live as a solo artist (yet!), but I’ve been in several bands in the past. The band I was in during high school and early college was this odd experimental rock act without a singer (I was the bassist).

Turns out, after I left that band in 2008, they hunkered down, refined their sound, invested a lot into high-quality production & marketing, and emerged as a notable band in the progressive metal scene called Earthside. (If you enjoy that genre, you may have heard of them! Link in comments 🎧 )

We’re all still relatively close friends; three of the members were groomsmen in my wedding.

Last summer I got a cryptic text from Jamie (the guitarist) asking to chat. They were in the process of booking a long tour in US/Canada and their bassist couldn’t make about 8 of the dates with his own work schedule… so he asked if I could fill in 🤯 🤩 🤘

This was HUGE. I’d never toured before as a musician, let alone at this level. Two dates in Canada. One was a music festival! This was a once-in-lifetime experience and huge promotional opportunity for me.

I also had to learn 6 lengthy, complex songs & intricately-timed live setup in about a month 😅

I so deeply wanted to say yes! But I had two complications:
👪 my wife would be solo-parenting for two weeks
💼 I would need to take a lot of PTO, which I wanted to save for rest later in the year

My wife immediately said yes ✅

That left work. I remember raising the opportunity with @Joel Gascoigne (our founder/CEO), who led with congratulations and excitement for me. Touring naturally includes hours of idle time, driving from place to place, waiting for load-in & sound check, so I proposed I could work from the road.

• We’d just started our Deep Work experiment, which eliminated many non-essential meetings.
• We’d also recently decided to scale back Quarterly Planning™, shifting to a more fluid & nimble plan-as-we-go method.
• This allowed me to contribute asynchronously from wherever the band was stopped in a place.

We rolled with it. I ended up only taking 4 actual days of PTO while on the road, and I never really felt out of the loop of what my team was working on.

I was reminded of this amazing experience because of Joel’s recent post sharing his vision of extending what he’s gained through Buffer to his teammates. This is a freedom I am extremely grateful to have experienced first-hand.

Working in tech can be quite more fluid and harmonious with life than what the current hype suggests. You can go on a national tour and still create clarity & value from the back of a Sprinter van with a mobile hotspot. It requires flexibility from all parties, clear principles and a willingness to stick to them.

What’s something wild you might try and make work with your work?