Woody Allen once said, “Showing up is 80% of life.” I tend to agree. As I look back on big moments in my life, I remember who showed up. I know who flew 1,000 miles to come to my wedding. I remember who drove five hours each way to watch me walk across a stage for 15 seconds when I graduated.

Because it’s important to me, I’ve made it a priority to show up for others. I’ll get on a plane and be there for the funeral. I’ll go see your baby in the hospital. I’ll do the interview face-to-face. I’ll drive through the snowstorm and be at the meeting instead of phoning it in. It’s important. Simply showing up demonstrates that.

The age of telecommuting

Working from home is more popular than ever. We also have better technology at our disposal to make the experience more true-to-life than ever before. I have an HD camera, noise-cancelling headphones, and an 84” smartboard at the office. As advanced as this technology is, it’s not the same as the real thing.

Perhaps I’ll feel differently when I get my Jedi council hologram machine.

Over this past summer, I’ve been iterating between several different office arrangements. I spend three days per week in our satellite office in Lowertown St. Paul. I spend one day per week in our headquarters in Inver Grove Heights. I spend one day working from home.

I love the flexibility. I really do. But I noticed something else: I really appreciate in-person meetings. When I do remote meetings, I try my best to do everything right: I turn on the camera. I don’t multi-task. I can fully engage, but I noticed that it takes a lot more energy on my part. I’ve found that it takes less effort to have a meaningful meeting when I’m physically present.

Spending all day engaging in remote meetings has me feeling like Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi force-projecting himself across the galaxy. I can do it, but it leaves me so exhausted that I’m ready to give up the force-ghost.

Based on this knowledge this is what I do. Just like in real life, not every important meeting works around my nicely pre-defined schedule. Because of that, sometimes I’ll drive all the way across town on my work-from-home day just to show up for one important meeting. To some, that might seem like a waste of time. To me, I just conquered the most important thing I had to accomplish that day, so that’s all that matters.

Showing up vs. productivity

All of us have a ton to do, and plenty is competing for our time. Telecommuting is certainly one way to squeeze more productivity into our limited day. Time in a car or plane is often wasted, so it’s tempting to eliminate that simply to get more done. However, getting the most done isn’t my objective. Success doesn’t mean getting to the bottom of my inbox. Success means making an impact.

Part of the art is knowing when to show up. We all constantly face the dilemma of what to say yes to and what to say no to. In order to show up for something really important in-person, you might need to say no to several other less important things. That’s okay. I don’t always get this right, but the more I do, the more impact I make.

The secrets to success

I don’t have all of the secrets to success, but I tend to agree with Woody. If you want to make an impact in someone else’s life, you have to show up. Sometimes, that takes significant effort in itself. But once you are there, magic happens. Looking back, I don’t often regret putting in the effort to show up, but I do look back at a few things that I wish I had been there for.

By all means, use the fancy teleconference software and hardware available. It’s cool, it works, and it’s a lot better than not connecting at all. However, when the situation calls for it, make the effort, drive the distance, get on the plane, and show up when you are needed. The meeting simply will not be the same without you there.

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