Hola, hola! Welcome to Casa Cinco, a weekly newsletter curating connection.

Are you building or investing in human connection? See the bottom of this email and connect with Casa Cinco.

This week I’m telling you a little story called burnout, sharing the launch of the Wandering Collective, and more. Happy reading!

Here’s to connecting,

Andy

A LITTLE STORY CALLED BURNOUT

I was sitting at my desk, at home, alone. It was a Saturday at 2:00am and I was waiting for a team member to pick up the phone. All of a sudden I realized - I didn’t care. I didn’t care if he picked up or not. I didn’t care if this whole deal fell apart or if we knocked it out of the park. I didn’t care if it was Saturday or Tuesday. What does any of it matter, anyway?

I had worked in M&A for four years at this point, and I was burning out. At this point, I had Googled “signs of burn out” more than my company’s HR team. I had called in sick multiple times with symptoms that resembled kindergarten lies (“One of my eyes swelled up and I can’t see”, “I physically can't stand from bed… it’s been three days”, “My lip is the size of a banana”). I had several 24-hour shifts up my sleeve.

And yet, there I was, on a Saturday at 2:00am.

The thing you should know about burnout - it sneaks up on you and those around you. There is no intervention. Not from your company, not from your family, not from your own self.

Work is perhaps the only vice that people don’t necessarily react negatively to. To some, it’s even worthy of praise. (PSA: to the man on TikTok who claims he has ‘manipulated time’ to have 21 days in a week and kick your butt - STFU).

@motivatedmindstate

How Ed Mylett changed and manipulated time - Speaker: Ed Mylett #motivation #time #motivatedmindstate #fyp #fypage #inspirationaledits #in... See more

I finally quit in July 2021 and took a year off. I spent 50% of my sabbatical working pro bono for start-ups out of guilt of feeling ‘unproductive’, and the other 50% pretending I knew how to spend any free time.

I spent 100% of that year scared that I wouldn’t be able to ‘properly’ work again.

This triggered a lot of reflection. How did I get to this point? I actually enjoyed work. I was one of the weird ones walking in every morning, throwing Good morning! left and right and excited for the day ahead (this made me think of Snow White… yes, some found me annoying).  

So why did I burn out?

Loneliness.

When COVID-19 forced all of us into isolation, I found myself with the same sleep deprivation and unhealthy stress but with no one to share the trenches with. No one to crack a joke with, tease or be teased by, philosophize, or go for coffee with. No one to play with, in person.

My team and I tried many things, from endless group calls to funny emails, clandestine meet-ups, and Zoom happy hours (remember those? Makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time).

Yet, it wasn’t the same. I had lost my community, and that’s when I cracked.

Going through this experience has made me both curious and critical of where the future of work is headed. Yes, we all love answering emails alone from our sweatpants every Monday morning at home. But every day, forever and always?

On a recent episode of ReThinking, Adam Grant interviews Airbnb’s Brian Chesky on this topic. What does the future of work look like, Brian? As always, Checkers Chesky had a few fascinating ideas to share (I’m trying out nicknames for when we become friends).

I suggest you listen to the full episode, but for all inpatient minds out there - the future of work looks hybrid, residential, and collaborative.

We were all quick to adapt to hybrid working formats, which are likely here to stay (try telling a Gen Z they have to head to the office 5 days a week…). However, we’re only now starting to question the spaces we do this in and the people we do it with. Maybe working from home, alone, is not as fun (or healthy) as it sounded back in March 2020. That doesn’t mean we’re back to wearing ties and commuting for 10+ hours a week. The answer probably lies somewhere in between. Somewhere where we continue to get the comfort of home without compromising on human connection. Without losing our community.

The closest example I can think of is members’ clubs embracing coworking spaces and diligently building out their communities (more on clubs as a conduit for connection here). Or offices chilling TFO, upgrading their design, and overcoming toxic ‘face time’ cultures by working on their trust issues.

But… we’re not quite there yet. At least not for the average employee currently Googling “signs of burnout”. At least not for me.

The inspiration for you is: Don’t burn out.

But also: how can we leverage technology, community, and space to design work environments that foster connection for years to come?

WEEKLY CURATION

PEOPLE

• 🧘McKinsey: In search of connection to something larger than oneself

• 💲Berry Liberman and Jacqueline Novogratz on how to use the tools of capitalism to solve our world’s biggest problems

• 🌋The fascinating story of Patagonia's founder and his business philosophy

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

• 🧑‍🌾Curious about sustainable condoms? Have sex, support a farmer!

• 🧳Wandering Collective: The freelance collective of strategists and creators for the hospitality industry is now live!

• 😍Coming soon: Building community through shared experiences

PLACES

• 🏠The promise of place-based investing (read again: not plant-based)

• 🏢Lack of excitement about work = loss in productivity = loss in value

• 📌Feeling disconnected? Maybe the place you’re in needs tweaking

CONNECT WITH CASA CINCO

Are you an entrepreneur or investor in hospitality, consumer, or community? Not sure if what you do fits in these categories, but you’re all about human connection?

More than simply alive, are you helping others to live more fully?

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We’ll talk soon. Thank you for joining me at Casa Cinco.

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