Jon Staff

Jon is the Founder & CEO of Getaway, a company that provides simple, unplugged escapes to tiny cabins outside of major cities across the U.S.

Jon earned inclusion in Crain’s inaugural LBGTQ Leaders & Executives list and is the author of “Getting Away: 75 Everyday Practices for Finding Balance in Our Always-On World,” a guide to unplugging and reconnecting with what really matters on a daily basis.

On his morning routine.

I feel a little social shame in admitting that I sleep until 8:00am most mornings.

I’m just not a “get-up and go to the gym” type of person. In the afternoons, maybe, but definitely not in the morning.

I do have a rule that I don’t touch any devices or have any screen time until I shower and have coffee. The most important part of my morning is my coffee-making ritual: grind whole beans, boil water and use the French press.

How we start our day truly matters, and the way to ensure you’re consistently starting your day on the right foot is to establish a healthy morning routine.

My routine isn’t especially interesting, but it helps me to start my day feeling balanced. After that, my partner and I go for a walk before work starts. 

On setting intentions.

So much of the world is trial and error. 

Right after freshman year of college, we were assigned dorms.

It was a big deal because this decided how the rest of my college experience would shape up. I got the worst one and it was far away from the rest of the campus. I thought my whole college experience was ruined.

Instead, I came to love that walk to and from campus. It was a way to clear my head and set intentions for the day. 

Today, I still go on walks and try to spend as much time outside as I can.

On my walks before and after work hours, I avoid taking calls or even listening to podcasts. It’s a mental process that allows me to get prepared or unwind and release the stress of the workday. 

On moving closer to nature.

I recently moved to Carroll Gardens, which is still in the city but has much better access to greenery.

Before this, I was living closer to bars and restaurants, where it was usually crowded and noisy. Now, I have a sense of serenity and seclusion.

It’s had a huge impact on my mental health. 

Living here is not so different from turning the push notifications off on your phone. I realized a couple years back that I don’t need to check Slack and email every second of every day.

I can go seek it out mindfully and thoughtfully when I want to. 

That’s what inspired my move. I want to seek out fun activities on my own terms, not have them forced on me because I live right next door. 

On taking time upstate.

Even now that I’m deeper in Brooklyn, I still love going upstate to a cabin and hiking. I think more people would benefit from taking advantage of the best in the city, and then spending time in rural areas with nature.

You can have the best of both worlds.

It’s hard though, especially in a city like New York. 

Until recently, I had this great 1986 Volkswagen van with dreams of jumping into the camper at a moment’s notice and exploring the country with my boyfriend.

Of course, that rarely happens. I’d end up getting pulled into random plans instead of leaving the city.

I’m still trying to figure out how to be honest with myself regarding which commitments I want to engage in and which ones I want out of.

That’s the biggest mental battle for me.

On disconnecting from tech.

It’s all about practice. 

I used to be really bad about it. In the first couple of years, when Michael and I would get out of the city, I’d spend the whole time making lists on how we could improve the business and completely miss the point of the getaway. 

Now, we have a deal. We set a timer for an hour where he reads and I freak out, and then we spend the rest of the time relaxing and having fun.

We can’t just sit down on our laptops or notebooks and plan every second of every day. That’s not going to work.

The pressure of optimizing everything is something we need to be wary of. 

It’s also important to set boundaries.

I don’t agree with the Silicon Valley spillover, especially when people say you have to always be reachable by email or phone, or do conference calls when you’re on vacation. Make it a point to disconnect and make a habit of it.

On his nightly routine.

After work is wrapped up, I like to cook, have a nice meal, and enjoy some relaxing activities. This could be watching Netflix, probably like the rest of the world, or playing Scrabble or Catan with my partner.

Also, there are no cell phones in the bedroom so we make sure to block out screen-free time before bed.

There are lots of good reasons to keep our phones far away from our beds, like the screen’s blue light that disrupts our body’s melatonin production, the addictive allure of social media that keeps us scrolling mindlessly past our bedtimes, and the way phones distract us from downtime with our partners.

I also recently published my first solo writing project, “Getting Away: 75 Everyday Practices for Finding Balance in Our Always-On World,” that serves as a guide to unplugging and reconnecting.

There are tips about how to find that work/life balance we all crave and how activities like board games, puzzles and reading help give ourselves the time we need to reset and recharge. Most evenings, I’m asleep by 11:30pm.