Leaders at Home: Mattia Flabiano

D CEO Magazine reached out to North Texas regional business leaders during the first few months of work from home to find out what they're reading, watching and learning. Page Senior Principal Mattia Flabiano shared his tips for keeping routines going and his biggest lessons learned during that time.

TV/Movies: I’m not really a TV show or binge-watching person but my wife and daughter (who came home for spring break and never went back) watched all seasons of the West Wing. My son and his wife (living with us since March 9) have been watching every new series between Netflix and Amazon Prime. I stroll through the den and catch pieces here and there, but mainly doing more reading or spring lake projects.

Podcasts: I’m mostly into TED Talks on design and architecture, specifically urban planning, density, and the modern city. This is now very interesting with the overlay of the pandemic challenging the ideas of urbanism, density, and mass transit. All the things we love about a walkable city and community are the very things that feed a virus. It is a very interesting dichotomy.

Music: I started playing ’70s classic rock again to reintroduce the kids to the music of their parents. Plus Jazz music for our cocktail cruises.

Books: I like thrillers where there is a long series of books building the characters. Authors such as Daniel Silva, Vince Flynn, Ted Bell, Lee Child, Ludlum, and Clancy. I always have two to three books going at the same time on my iPad, including The Man in the Glass House about Philip Johnson written by Mark Lamster.

Exercise: I have a daily regimen of pushups, sit-ups, and crunches, followed by riding the Peloton in Dallas, walking, or riding a bike when at the lake. I also play a little golf with my son.

Other ways I’m passing the time: I love cooking and grilling; it is a big chore planning meals for the last nine weeks with five of us all eating together with a variety of tastes from the meat-eaters to non. It is a tough day for the non-meat eaters when I fire up the smoker for brisket, ribs and pork butt! The best was perfecting pasta dishes; I now make a very good cacio e pepe. At the lake, there is always a project or chores to do or something to fix. I love my garage and tools.

My best remote-working tips: Keep a routine, and rule No. 1: Get out of your PJs. This has been our favorite saying every morning. Change your scenery, get up, walk around, get some water, or iced tea. For idea stimulation and time to think, ride the bike around the block, it’s good for the soul. If you think about the office, most people are moving around a lot, collaborating with your colleagues, getting coffee, or having formal and informal meetings. Recreate these breaks in your day to avoid just sitting in front of your computer.

The biggest lesson I’ve learned: Savor the time with family. You don’t really know how much you miss everyone being together until you have this extended time living back in the same home. It has been 10 years since all of us were under one roof, and in that time, we added a daughter-in-law to the crew.

To see the D CEO Magazine article in full, click here.