Chopbiscuit

Oh, and remember: next Friday… is Hawaiian shirt day. So, you know, if you want to, go ahead and wear a Hawaiian shirt and jeans. (Bill Lumbergh - Office Space)

When I was a child my mom got dressed for work each morning in so called ‘professional’ clothing. When she came home from work, she changed out of her “work clothes” before we went out to partake in my school activities or run errands As I got older, and entered high school, I started working at a variety of jobs in retail that has a business casual approach. The only time we got a pass was there was a holiday or a “Jean’s Day” Friday. Professional image and dress was drilled into me before I even understood what it really meant. That was back in the early 90′s and by late 90′s more casual and informal styles were creeping into the office.

Today, that model is extinct. In this modern age of open source information, technology, and advanced knowledge, we are turning out some of the best and brightest young minds ever. We may look back in 100 years and say this was a renaissance of sorts. We have young people graduating from high school and college that can write elaborate programs for video games, start businesses in their local coffee shops and dorm rooms that make them millionaires before they are 20 years old. They bring new and innovative ideas into our organizations that help to make us leaders within our industries. (Well, maybe most)

And, the great news is they have no idea what it means to present themselves in a professional manner.

Lets take a moment and note that your image has a direct impact on your earning potential. It’s silly to say that Professional presence doesn’t help facilitate career advancement and financial success. Studies show to prove this over and over again. There are also recorded interviews where CEOs and Executives admit to having not promoted someone based on their lack of projecting a professional image. With that said, I would suggest that the old saying rings true “dress for the job you want, not the one that you have.”

For a moment, lets actually define what business casual is.

1. A collared shirt (button-down collar, “dress” shirt, polo) or sweater
2. Non-denim pants (Chinos or slacks)
3. Non-sneakers (loafers/boat shoes/oxfords, etc)

I’ll just go ahead and say this right now with full discretion: this is my companies dress code for day to day wear. For “Professional dress” days or meetings, we sometimes elevate the standard with a nice touch of pixy dust. (*I kid)

I’m going to play devils advocate for a second. Papers in college have a page requirement right? There is a standard to meet, and a standard to exceed. If we could change everything and eliminate “business casual” from the workplace, what would actually happen? Nobody knows.

Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to change society at-large. Sure, as the current style and theme takes hold, the trends will start to filter its way down into all levels of business, affecting the available clothes in stores and then affecting the way we dress. But, by the time it reaches the masses, the style will have shifted and we will have moved on, even slightly.

The problem here is that Business Casual has evolved, and with it, so has the standards. New denims are now the “IT” Khakis. Fitted t-shirts, have moved into a formal world that was once held by the classic Polo. Sneakers and shoes have crossed over like the SUV and Minivan.

We’ve clearly moved from the formality of business wear (See “Mad Men”) to the super-hyper casual work environment of jeans and t-shirts. You see this happening in the tech world at a rapid pace. It’s hard to define and many people have tried. All I am saying is that business casual and professional work dress should be appropriate to your industry. Make it relevant and make it apropos to your demographic.

* I was sitting around roasting some coffee and planning what sport I was going to enter for the 2016 Summer Olympics and thought of composing a list of things, you shouldn’t do for work and your personal sanity. I then thought, let me scour the intertubes to see if there was already a list out there that was aligned with my current thoughts. Of course there was. Leave it to Tim Ferriss to compose any thoughts I’ve ever had in my head. That rat bastard.

So, here is Tim’s vaunted list. Anything you would add?

1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers
Feel free to surprise others, but don’t be surprised. It just results in unwanted interruption and poor negotiating position. Let it go to voicemail, and consider using a service like GrandCentral (you can listen to people leaving voicemail) or Simulscribe (receive voicemails as e-mail).

2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
The former scrambles your priorities and plans for the day, and the latter just gives you insomnia. E-mail can wait until 10am, after you’ve completed at least one of your critical to-do items…

3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
If the desired outcome is defined clearly with a stated objective and agenda listing topics/questions to cover, no meeting or call should last more than 30 minutes. Request them in advance so you “can best prepare and make good use of the time together.”

4. Do not let people ramble
Forget “how’s it going?” when someone calls you. Stick with “what’s up?” or “I’m in the middle of getting something out, but what’s going on?” A big part of GTD is GTP — Getting To the Point.

5. Do not check e-mail constantly — “batch” and check at set times only
I belabor this point enough. Get off the cocaine pellet dispenser and focus on execution of your top to-do’s instead of responding to manufactured emergencies. Set up a strategic autoresponder and check twice or thrice daily.

6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
There is no sure path to success, but the surest path to failure is trying to please everyone. Do an 80/20 analysis of your customer base in two ways–which 20% are producing 80%+ of my profit, and which 20% are consuming 80%+ of my time? Then put the loudest and least productive on autopilot by citing a change in company policies. Send them an e-mail with new rules as bullet points: number of permissible phone calls, e-mail response time, minimum orders, etc. Offer to point them to another provider if they can’t conform to the new policies.

7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm — prioritize
If you don’t prioritize, everything seems urgent and important. If you define the single most important task for each day, almost nothing seems urgent or important. Oftentimes, it’s just a matter of letting little bad things happen (return a phone call late and apologize, pay a small late fee, lose an unreasonable customer, etc.) to get the big important things done. The answer to overwhelm is not spinning more plates — or doing more — it’s defining the few things that can really fundamentally change your business and life.

8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7
Take at least one day off of digital leashes per week. Turn them off or, better still, leave them in the garage or in the car. I do this on at least Saturday, and I recommend you leave the phone at home if you go out for dinner. So what if you return a phone call an hour later or the next morning? As one reader put it to a miffed co-worker who worked 24/7 and expected the same: “I’m not the president of the US. No one should need me at 8pm at night. OK, you didn’t get a hold of me. But what bad happened?” The answer? Nothing.

9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should
Work is not all of life. Your co-workers shouldn’t be your only friends. Schedule life and defend it just as you would an important business meeting. Never tell yourself “I’ll just get it done this weekend.” Review Parkinson’s Law in 4HWW and force yourself to cram within tight hours so your per-hour productivity doesn’t fall through the floor. Focus, get the critical few done, and get out. E-mailing all weekend is no way to spend the little time you have on this planet.
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It’s hip to focus on getting things done, but it’s only possible once we remove the constant static and distraction. If you have trouble deciding what to do, just focus on not doing. Different means, same end.