JACK SPOOR Robson Laidler Accountants and Business Advisors
Do you ever have to work weekends?
I try my utmost not to! Work life balance is something that comes up a lot with my coaching clients, where they are working long hours to service the demands of their business. In some cases when we divide their total earnings by the total hours worked, they are earning below minimum wage. That is before you start thinking of what other strategic tasks they could have been doing with their time. It is something I totally appreciate and can relate to. When I was working from home during lockdown, I could easily find myself working 12-hour days and logging on at weekends, it was too convenient and there was also an expectation by some clients that you were always contactable. It took a bit of a toll on my mental health, and I needed to make some changes. I now try to be an example to my clients by leaving my work at work. I have switched off email notifications on my mobile phone so nobody can reach me unless I want them to. Now the most I do is a bit of research on a Sunday night ahead of a Monday morning or some reading to aid my personal development.
Are most weekends the same?
There are definite themes to my weekends, but they are rarely the same. There is often a walk of some kind involved. My wife is originally from the Lake District, so we often make weekend trips over there to see family and, weather permitting, walk the fells. Food is also a big part of my weekend. Whether it is a pub lunch somewhere, home cooked food with family or friends or just a cosy night in with a takeaway, I am always thinking of my stomach! That is not to say that every weekend is the same. I can be lounging on a boat moored off the Farne Islands one weekend and cycling the Coast to Coast the next. If I am unlucky, my wife will collar me and get me to work on the growing to do list for around the house!
Do you find it hard to switch off?
I hate to say it, but I do. I struggle to sleep at the best of times and even with my no work at home policy, I still on occasions fail to drift off for hours. It is not always a terrible thing, as I often get my most creative thoughts at night. I have had many midnight epiphanies, which have caused sleepless nights due to pure excitement to get back to the office.
What do you do at a weekend which you cannot fit in through the week?
Plenty of things! First and foremost, is to spend quality time with my wife. She is a nurse at the Freeman Hospital and works long hours during the week. She often comes home, eats, jumps in the shower then heads straight to bed and starts the cycle again. The weekend serves as a period for us to catch up and reconnect. Secondly is to cook properly. My midweek cooking more resembles an episode of “Ready Steady Cook” where I just try and use up what is in the cupboards. However, the weekend is a chance to take some time to cook properly; bake some Sourdough, make a lasagne from scratch or a Sunday Roast with all the trimmings. Thirdly is a chance to read and catch up on some podcasts, which pile up over the course of the week.
Morning exercise or a recovery lie in?
I do find a morning jog to be rejuvenating but coaxing myself out into the cold purely on the promise of a potential endorphin rush at some point can be a tough ask. If I have managed to drag myself around Jesmond Dene a couple of times, then I will treat myself to a bacon sandwich like all athletes do!
Big night out or a night in the house?
Both! A perfect weekend can consist of being cramped around a table in a loud and rambunctious pub with friends and a few beers. Equally I can be just as happy being sat at home with my better half pretending that I do not like watching Strictly.
Do you watch or play sport at a weekend?
I used to play sport 10 years ago where my weekends were organised around travelling around the North-East, from Berwick to Guisborough, playing Rugby. Several injuries in quick succession brought my playing career to an end in Icarus like fashion. Now I am content to volunteer at my local club and watch from the sidelines and age gracefully. Where do you like to eat out at a weekend? So many wonderful places! It is another indication of how fantastic the North East is to live in. My parents live up the Tyne Valley where there are so many great foody pubs, like The Feathers on Hedley on the Hill, or the Duke of Wellington at Newton. On the Coast, we have some amazing fish eateries in truly stunting locations, like Riley’s Fish Shack on King Edwards Bay or The Bait Shack up at Beadnell. If it is a special treat, like a birthday, my family’s go-to is 21 on the Quayside. However, if we are staying local then we often head to Lezzet at Four Lane Ends, which has some of the best Turkish food in the city.
How important is the weekend to you?
I went to boarding school where weekends did not really exist, as we had school lessons on a Saturday morning followed by an afternoon of sport, then early morning Chapel on a Sunday before getting some free time. This gave me an appreciation for my time off in later life. For me it provides that all important period of rest and reflection. It also gives me that complete freedom to do my own thing and exist outside of work. I always tell clients, just because we spend 5/7th of our time at work does not mean it should be 5/7th of our personality.
What’s the best thing about weekends?
There are so many things, which deserve honourable mentions. The first coffee of the day on a sunny morning, the lazy brunches, the pub lunches, the bracing walks.
However, what I always enjoy, even since I was a child, is the feeling you get for the first 15 seconds of waking up when the initial blind panic of thinking you are late for something subsides and you realise it is a weekend. A feeling that cannot be topped.
Of a weekend, you’ll usually find me….
Doing exactly what I want to do, with the people I care most about. The more impulsive the better!
