With their never-ending work routines, CEOs and those at the top tier often struggle to make time for personal space, let alone pursue hobbies. Some swear by the 5am club, while others sneak out some me-time to keep themselves sane. A mid-week evening-out with a friend in today’s job scenario seems like a remote possibility, even for people with regular profiles.
What is the 5 pm rule Marc Randolph follows?
Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph swears by his 5 pm rule that has kept him sane all these years. Every Tuesday, Randolph ends his work at 5 pm, no matter the emergency or the urgency of a work task to be done. He makes sure to spend this time with a friend, doing regular stuff like watching movies, window-shopping and things that keep him connected to life.
The 5 pm rule is going viral after a resurfaced LinkedIn post caught the attention of the Netizens.
“I’ve worked hard, for my entire career, to keep my life balanced with my job,” Randolph wrote in the post.
“For over thirty years, I had a hard cut-off on Tuesdays. Rain or shine, I left at exactly 5 pm and spent the evening with my best friend. We would go to a movie, have dinner, or just go window-shopping downtown together,” he added.
What’s the science behind it?
In the modern era, where people struggle to get out of the fight-or-flight mode, a daily or weekly ritual can help lower the stress levels significantly.
According to NHS UK, having a network of friends, colleagues, and family can help maintain a good mental health. The activities done with friends can help in relaxing and unwinding.
It’s especially important for CEOs and business leaders to have wellness rituals who may not have clear professional boundaries due to nature of their work.
Striking the work-life balance
Randolph in a 2022 interview with Brainz Magazine revealed he has always believed in taking out time for doing things that he likes and those that mattered. Randolph manages his time beautifully to be able to spend quality time with his family. Waking up at 5am in the morning for instance would give him time to surf and return in time for his morning meetings.
“I’ve always carved out the time for the things I always felt were really important in my life. In my past what this meant was that sometimes I’d get up early a couple of hours before the family, but then I’d shut the lid and be there while my kids are up and getting ready for school,” he told Brainz.
He shared how he would wake up at “5:00 am and get out to surf for an hour and a half, then be out of the water and in the office in time for my morning meetings.”
Stressing the importance of work-life balance Randolph shared with the outlet that “at Netflix, I would come home from 6-8:30 so I could have dinner, help put my kids to bed, and then get back to the office and work until midnight.”
As he rightly said – “you have to carve out those blocks of time, because they won’t just magically appear.”
Randolph’s simple daily and weekly rituals show that it is possible for everyone, no matter what the job is to set aside some time for things they like to do and a clear plan definitely helps in fulfilling the vision.
The Netflix co-founder followed the 5pm weekly rule even while serving as chief executive of Netflix for seven years, to make sure he remains sane while he works diligently and relentlessly.
“Nothing got in the way of that,” Randolph said in the post. “No meeting, no conference call, no last-minute question or request. If you had something to say to me on Tuesday afternoon at 4:55, you had better say it on the way to the parking lot. If there was a crisis, we are going to wrap it up by 5:00.”
“Those Tuesday nights kept me sane. And they put the rest of my work in perspective.”
What Randoph has been doing for years and decades has a scientific backing too with a 2015 study finding that having something positive to look forward to can greatly reduce stress and improve mood.
There is an explanation why this happens. When you plan something, you actually visualise yourself doing those activities. It’s the daydreaming as per the study that could fill one with a jolt of excitement and that could uplift mental well-being and lower stress.
So, are you ready with a weekly ritual, yet?
