Floor Time
/flôr tīm/
noun
the 15-60 minute time period spent laying on the floor in the middle of the work day, typically as a relief from the soul-sucking reality of corporate America.
During the first couple months of my big girl job in Silicon Valley, a new coworker asked me to be her accountability partner. This applied to two things: going to SoulCycle1 every Tuesday, and improving her voiceovers for important meetings. Specifically, she wanted to work on her upspeak. I gladly accepted. Before the meetings, she would practice her voiceovers on me, we’d do the meeting, and after, we’d conduct a feedback sesh on what went well and what could be worked on for the future. This laid the groundwork for a system of peer review that our entire work cohort (the fresh-outta-college 20somethings) adopted.
That started in 2016. As of a year ago, she and I have reinstated our feedback sessions on a biweekly basis. We have a “biweekly biz dev agenda” that lists “what we’re doing,” “goal it achieves,” and “timeline.” There are also “troubleshooting” and “action items” sections. You’re probably reading this and thinking this is way too corporate for Floor Time. And you may be right. But I’m telling you this because I found myself sharing the merits of this meeting over dinner with some friends last night, and I feel like you might want to hear this, too.
Since we’ve reinstated our check-ins, my friend and I have helped each other conduct mock interviews (we both got those jobs by the way ;), draft job descriptions, practice how to negotiate salaries/rates (which again, we got), and hold each other accountable for simple things like putting on a full outfit even when working from home. As someone who works for myself, it’s nice to have someone else to bounce ideas off of and commiserate with when the Corporate gets rough. And even if you don’t work for yourself, it can be refreshing to have an outside party (aka someone who isn’t your coworker) to talk to about work things. Often my friend Eli and I will have coworking days (we use SheWork as a verb in these cases) and most of that time is used to vent about work things to an unbiased ear. It’s a great way to get it all off your chest and have someone to help you troubleshoot.
Aside from those benefits, there’s also the added bonus of knowing what’s going on with my friend when she lives across the country. Our biweekly’s are on the gCal which guarantees that they happen. As an adult with a crazy schedule, I find that being intentional about catch-up time is necessary, otherwise I’ll be playing eternal phone tag. For instance, I also have a biweekly with my 3 best friends / college roommates every Monday. It’s usually a 30 minute call (at least) we use to get updates on everyone. I get to stay in the know, hear about recent trips, learn about work drama, and just hear about how my friends are doing.
I guess I’ll be the one to tell you this: Unfortunately, work and life operate in a cycle. But when you can make that circle work for you (i.e. having a calendar invite that holds you accountable to having intentional calls with your friends), then maybe it’s not such a bad cycle after all? Maybe it’s a cycle we can use to our advantage as people, not just corporate cogs? Feel free to check me on this—I could be girlbossin’ too close to the sun and need someone to take away my Kool-Aid.
Something I Thought of in the Shower
For some reason, it’s still Moo Deng. It’s so scary and I know I’m just gonna be more spooked this Halloween weekend by the costumes. Honestly, Pesto is way cuter and should be getting Moo Deng levels of media attention.
Something To Laugh About
Here are this week’s gems:
This is me this entire week, but with Kit-Kats.
Show up and show out, fam. (Can you tell I really miss this nature vibe and cannot wait to be upstate again very soon?)
This is in essence me as a whole person, and it’s also very on-brand with today’s newsletter. Like I’m simply not a chill person, I know this, I’ve accepted it, and I love it.
Something for Clarice
Hey! This newsletter is free and I intend to keep it that way. That said, if you love it and want to show your appreciation, buy me a coffee :)
Something Pretty
I’m genuinely considering this tattoo. It’s wonderful. No notes.
By the way…I’m reading this.
Last week’s Floor Time got me in the spoopy mood, and that mood has also carried over to my reading for the week. I’ve been so excited to read Fairy Tale by Stephen King since I bought it last winter, but I haven’t been in the mood until now. Though I’ve only read one other Stephen King (because I’m sca-yurd), 11/22/63, I am so excited to dive back in because I love his writing. It’s next-level good.
Also, I’m very sca-yurd but Andrew and I started Salem’s Lot on HBO, that is adapted from the Stephen King novel by the same name. I prefer when vampires are hot, broody, and in high school (NOT IN A CREEPY WAY, I AM MERELY MAKING POP CULTURE REFERENCES PLS DON’T MAKE THIS WEIRD) but alas.
And I’m watching this.
Agatha All Along is SO good. I’m also watching Shrinking season 2 because I love Brett Goldstein with my whole heart and will support anything he does. The cast is phenomenal, it’s one of the few new shows that makes me actually LOL because the writing is so spectacular, and I have always/will always want to be Jessica Williams.
Happy Halloween weekend! (I think we’ve collectively agreed it’s this one, yes?) Because next Friday I’ll be in Christmas mode already, soz.
‘Til next time, accountability buddies. Your friend,
Clarice
can you believe I used to be a SoulCycle girlie? crazy to think, right?