Does More Freedom at Work Mean More Fulfillment? | Sarah Aviram | TED

In 2019,

I was working from my laptop, from a beautiful beach in Bali.

Drinking water right out of a fresh coconut

and enjoying the warm ocean breeze,

and I'm thinking, meh.

Something was still missing, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

How could I be in this scenario and not feel fulfilled?

I worked from 12 countries in 12 months that year.

An opportunity that was once rare is now more possible

for more people than ever before.

Spotify recently introduced their new "work from anywhere" policy

in which they're giving employees a choice of working

wherever they do their most focused and creative thinking.

Dropbox's new way of working is called "Virtual first,"

in which remote work will be the primary experience for employees,

saving in-person meetings for special occasions.

And that's great news

because over 50 percent of people that work remotely say

that if their current company doesn't give them

some type of remote work option long-term,

they'll look for a job at a company that does.

Well, problem solved, right?

Except what people are saying and what they're doing is inconsistent.

In fact, according to a recent McKinsey study,

workplace flexibility wasn't even one of the top five reasons

people quit their jobs in the past year.

More freedom at work doesn't mean more fulfillment.

Let me take you back to the end of 2018.

I'm two years into doing my job as the director of talent development

for a New York-based tech company.

And I'm doing what I love to do the most,

creating and launching employee development programs from scratch.

And then my boss says to me,

"Next year is going to be the year of maintenance,

focusing on refining existing programs instead of launching new ones."

I'm not a maintenance-mode person.

While I understand its importance, it's really not where I shine,

so I wasn't looking forward to the year ahead.

Meanwhile, I was reading new research on the future of work,

and all signs were pointing to a remote and hybrid-work future.

We now know that the pandemic accelerated that by at least a decade.

I even found a work-and-travel program

that coordinates a group of professionals to work remotely from around the world

with coworking spaces and living accommodations in each city.

I was immediately hooked.

I had always wanted to travel for a longer period of time,

but I thought I'd have to quit my job in order to do that.

Then I thought, well, I could do maintenance mode from anywhere.

And given my current company's global expansion plans,

I knew I had to think about where current and future employees could be located.

If I could convince my company that I should work remotely

to better understand the opportunities

and challenges that remote workers face,

it could be a win-win for both of us.

And a month later, I ended my apartment lease,

sold my furniture

and hopped on a one-way flight from cold and snowy New York City

to Lima, Peru,

to start my year-long trip with my cohort.

And let me tell you,

those first few months were incredible.

I attended a virtual team meeting for my coworking space at Lima

before heading out to go surfing at sunset on a regular Tuesday.

I launched a work program from inside of a pool

in Puerto Escondido, Mexico.

And I negotiated a contract from a cafe in Hanoi, Vietnam,

before jumping on the back of a motorbike to go eat bun cha with friends.

I met remote workers and digital nomads from around the world.

Each of us had a different story of how we got there.

Some had just been divorced or gotten out of long-term relationships

and convinced their employers to let them work remotely

so that they could get away.

There were three corporate lawyers who all hated their jobs

and thought that doing them from a beach would make it more tolerable.

And some just wanted to be as far away from micromanagement and office politics

as possible.

But still, after a few months,

when that honeymoon period was over and the novelty faded,

we realized that traveling was just a Band-Aid solution for the real problems.

I wondered, how could we get this "work from anywhere" life right?

So I interviewed dozens of remote workers,

I conducted a focus group, and I surveyed hundreds of people.

And you know what I saw in all that data?

Wherever you go, there you are.

If you hate your job in Houston, you will hate it in Hanoi.

What really needs fixing is your motivation to do the work itself.

We believe we need a certain amount of money

to create or maintain the lifestyle that we've envisioned.

We think we need a specific job title that aligns with the identity

that we or our parents imagined for us a decade ago.

And we don't realize that we get stuck

in the motions of work routines without intention.

Minimizing these pressures around your money,

identity and routines

and focusing on opportunities for more growth, impact and joy

is the key to a more fulfilling career no matter where you're located.

And the good news is that you might not have to overhaul your career

or life to feel fulfilled.

Esther Perel, world-renowned psychotherapist and couples counselor,

says that in the West today,

most of us are going to have two or three marriages or committed relationships,

and some of us are going to do it with the same person.

Think about that for a second.

She's saying that some of us will build and experience a new relationship

with the same person.

Perhaps something similar could be said about your relationship to your work

at the same company.

Perhaps after a challenging time, an enticing external offer

or having been together for a while,

instead of breaking up,

you could find and create a better path forward together.

And I'm not saying you're going to get everything you want

out of your current job,

but given how much time you spend working,

isn't it worth a shot to make it as fulfilling as possible?

When the pandemic hit and much of the world went remote,

I saw my corporate friends in the States

follow the exact same trajectory that we did abroad.

The thrill of working home in your pajamas,

having more flexibility with your schedule,

being able to do the laundry in between meetings,

all of which can make a real difference in improving your daily life.

But still, once the novelty faded and the reality set in,

people had to face whatever underlying issues they'd had

before the pandemic started.

When the perks of an office job were taken away,

whether it was the free snacks in the break room,

the water-cooler conversation with colleagues,

what people were left with was the work itself

and their motivation, or lack thereof, to do it.

And they began to ask themselves really important questions:

Do I even like my job?

Is this really worth my time?

Is this what I want to be doing?

And these are great questions to ask.

The problem is, for way too many people,

they thought they had to completely overhaul their career or life.

More people voluntarily quit their jobs in 2021

than any other year in recorded history.

They wanted a fresh start and a new beginning after a challenging time.

Here's the kicker, though.

Almost 50 percent of the people that did find jobs after quitting

say that their new job has not lived up to their expectations.

They found out, just like we did in Peru, Mexico and Vietnam,

that wherever you go, there you are.

Perhaps you could start the next chapter of your career

in an organization that knows you,

where you've built credibility and trust and a network,

and where they'd be willing to let you try things you haven't done before.

Now, I'm not saying you should stay in a toxic work environment.

And sometimes you do need a larger-scale change,

like a new job or a new career.

But before you make a decision that you think will make you happier,

I want you to consider that happiness is a feeling that doesn't last.

It often is what we want in the moment and depends on external circumstances.

What does last, however, is fulfillment.

Fulfillment is richer, deeper and longer-term

and often takes a longer amount of time and intention to get it.

As you look to generate fulfillment,

I want you to consider three questions tied to three of its key components

that are more internally driven.

The first is joy.

What kind of work energizes you that you'd love to do more of?

Now, I want you to remember that just because you're good at something,

it doesn't mean that you enjoy doing it.

So really consider what gives you a deep feeling of contentment.

Next is impact.

How could you provide more value to your company or clients

by doing this kind of work?

And if you're having trouble answering that question, then ask your manager,

your peers or clients directly.

Focus on work that's in that sweet spot

of meeting both your interests and the client's needs

or the business needs.

And finally, growth.

Which knowledge or skills could you develop through these experiences?

Feeling a sense of progress toward meaningful work

is one of the biggest drivers of fulfillment.

I asked myself these same three questions when I was feeling happy

yet not fulfilled with my life working from a beach.

And I found out that I find joy in interviewing,

researching and talking to remote workers about their lives.

I made a significant impact by facilitating workshops

to help them develop their skills and their careers.

And growth came in the form of me figuring out

how to distill a career's worth of the best HR advice and expertise

into an easily digestible book for remote workers.

Thousands of organizations around the world

are finally understanding the importance

of giving employees a choice of where to work.

And while being given that choice is certainly meaningful,

what’s even more empowering

is the fulfillment that comes from doing work

that truly lights you up, wherever you are.

Thank you.