#work vs play

[oshoquotes]

[identitycrux]

the switch-up

[tundrawolf84]

WTB more free time

I have come to realise that I'm beginning to get excited at the prospect of implementing my game. I have gone through Unity's first tutorial and I was impressed how easy it was. Sure, it left me wanting to know the inner workings (which I am completely clueless on), but I still felt confident that Unity is the right environment to use (especially with 4.3 coming out to allow 2D sprites in a 3D environment). But now the problem lies with the free time that I have to devote to this project. I still want time to play my games or to have some social time. Also, for the most part, I am unsure if I will feel motivated enough to do work on this project after coming home from work. I am just getting back into WoW, and have been trying to get a Flex raid going. But, if I cut WoW out again, I would probably feel more inclined to work on the project, since I *MUST* be doing something after work (side note: I hate not having anything fun to do during my free time). Ideally, I would love to devote the time I am spending at work to the project, but there is that whole income issue. Unfortunately, there isn't much I can do about that. So, I suppose I cut out socializing and gaming out of my life and focus on the project, or try to organize my time efficiently, with only working on the project on X number of days.

[targetstyle]

Work vs Play

"This is a ladylike, very feminine silhouette. She's office-ready in a white top paired with the pencil skirt. In a black peplum top, she's ready for evening." -TB

own it now: architectural pencil skirt. black peplum top. white tuxedo blouse. black patent pumps.

[semiambivalent-blog]

All Work and No Play (gives Jack generalised anxiety disorder)

             How much fun should you allow yourself? It’s a question I often ask myself as I try and strike the right balance between progress in my career and the temptations of a social life. ‘Just one more game of FIFA’, ‘another episode of Mad Men’ or staying out drinking past midnight – these are all pleas my right brain makes to my left brain a few times a week (and good old lefty usually concedes). This internal struggle isn’t unique to me – I can see it in people’s eyes when they decide to stay for another pint instead of getting a good night’s sleep, or when they pick up a trashy mag instead of the Economist. We enjoy these indiscretions, but know they are bad for us - we feel better about ourselves when we finish a boring but educational book, or if we make it home on a Friday with our livers still intact.

            As a result, we play games and strike bargains between the devils and angels on our shoulders – “I went for a run today so it’s fine to eat that cookie”, or “when I finish my essay I will celebrate with a big night out”. For example, at the moment I am reading a book called ‘Drive’ by the economist Dan Pink, as part of upholding a bargain between my right and left brain – it’s written by an economist, so it’s educational, but it’s written in the popular pseudo-scientific way that many books are nowadays; making it easy to digest for my right hemisphere. I got 45% through (according to my Kindle) and read a paragraph that inspired me to put down the book and write this article. The paragraph talks about a study by a psychologist called “Csikszentmihalyi” (pronounced ‘chick-sent-me-high’) around the importance of play with regards to productivity. Csikszentmihalyi wanted to test what would happen if you purposely scrubbed fun from your life. His instructions were as follows: “Beginning [morning of target date], when you wake up and until 9:00 PM, we would like you to act in a normal way, doing all the things you have to do, but not doing anything that is “play” or “noninstrumental”.

            At first glance these instructions don’t sound too hard – I mean who has much fun at work anyway... all the ‘play’ comes after 9pm. How long do you think you could last? I estimated I could survive an entire week like this (and I thought I was being conservative). The result: they lasted two days before the experiment had to be prematurely stopped! So what went wrong? The participants started exhibiting signs of “generalised anxiety disorder” – the symptoms of which may be frighteningly familiar to you (they certainly were to me):

Restlessness or feeling on edge

Being easily fatigued

Difficulty concentrating or mind going blank

Irritability

Muscle tension

 Sleep disturbance

These symptoms became bad enough that after 48 hours the experiment had to be abandoned: the experiment suggests that denying yourself simple, playful behaviour actually starves your brain of the ability to work effectively. Without the rejuvenation you get from doing activities that you find fun but may serve no clear purpose, you lose the ability to even do simple tasks. Remember that next time you feel guilty at work for checking Facebook.

            So how do we find the right balance? Sure I would love to spend my entire day playing and doing things I love, but what about when the boring tasks come up? What about our chores and responsibilities? What about things that I don’t enjoy doing, but I know will make me smarter/healthier/more attractive to the ladies? Well to be honest, I don’t have an answer – I am still trying to define those boundaries myself. But I would use this as a guideline: if you get to the point where you start noticing these symptoms, take a break: you are pushing yourself too hard. If you can’t do something you enjoy at your desk, then get up, walk around, make a coffee or develop an addiction to nicotine (lung cancer seems way less unhealthy than lack of fun).

So what if you work in one of those offices where long hours are the norm, and everyone pretends to be working, even if they aren’t? Ask yourself what you want to be good at – doing your job or acting? (Ignore this question if you are an actor). Besides, it is entirely possible that you are only imagining those judgmental eyes you see when taking a break. Quick experiment: go ahead and think of a song everyone knows, and tap it out on the table with your fingers for a partner to guess. Did they get it right? Chances are they didn’t – only about 3% of the time people do. However on average people estimate that their partner will guess correctly 50% of the time. There is obviously a disconnect between what we think people notice, and what they actually do – this is called the illusion of transparency. So relax a little bit – your boss is busy and isn’t likely keeping a log of every break you take or noting down every time they see you chatting by the water cooler. You know what they do notice? Mistakez. And you are far more likely to make them when you have your head buried in your work all day. If you were a boss, who would you rather manage? – someone who stays late, makes mistakes and always looks burned out? Or the happy-go-lucky guy that you suspect takes a bit too long for lunch, but never burns out or fucks up, and gets on well with everyone in the office? I know personally I would rather have someone be honest with me, who tells me “no” when it can’t be done, and is dependable when they give me a “yes”, because even if it means less getting done, what gets done will be high quality, and there is less risk of delay or nasty surprises the night before a big deadline.

I understand this message will be dismissed by anyone currently putting in those long hours, because your personal case always seems different somehow. Just be aware that you are trapped in a loop – by denying yourself fun to keep on top of your workload, you are actually decreasing your effectiveness and doing less work per hour spent. You have put in more effort, but the value of that work is decreasing, erasing the gains you think you are earning. What’s more, over time you are less likely to find creative, novel ways to reduce your workload. Now I know there are times when you need to commit to an all-night slog to get something done (my specialty), and that sometimes you do just have too much work, but as I think this through, I am wondering if my poor working tactics are what lead to that all-night slog being necessary? If I was working more effectively and being more productive, I could perhaps get ahead of my work and recharge my brain ready for a last minute sprint when that inevitable task falls on my lap at 4pm on a Friday.

The truth is that counter-intuitively, it is actually harder to leave work on time – if you stay longer you don’t have to stand up for yourself or make tough decisions because you can always just stay an extra half an hour or more to finish. Leaving on time means saying “No” – a word most of us try to avoid telling our clients and bosses. We hate to let people down; it’s human nature to try to meet the expectations other people set for us. However, if you are having one of those days where nothing is going in, and you can’t seem to think straight, just know – it doesn’t mean you are stupid: it’s your brain telling you to take a break. From now on, try to work smart, not hard, and give in to your fun side every now and again – as honest Abe says himself:

“It has been my experience, that folks who have no vices, have very few virtues.”

- Abraham Lincoln

[designseek]

An interesting article that touches on Facebook's famous hacker culture and what it's like being a designer at Facebook HQ (interview with Ben Barry).