It’s got to be fun.
If you’re doing anything, and you want to stick at it, you’ve got to make it fun.
For me, fun is variety, surprise, chaos, ludicrous challenges, stupidity for the sheer joy of being stupid, mistake-making, game-playing, all the senses in a whirl, the thrill of ignorance becoming the lust for knowing, physically tired but bright-eyed and zingy in the brainpan, drawing big looping arrows and ringing words wildly with a ballpoint pen (this is important), activity, achievable goals capping impossible ones, really strong coffee, variety, surprise, chaos, variety, surprise, chaos.
On Friday, I wrote a useful routine for myself for getting things done – less a list than a program, a series of super-efficient, time-conserving commands that would squeeze every drop of productivity from my Saturday. It was great. I’d get so much done!
On Saturday, I went and did fun things instead.
Yesterday, I wrote a few things down on a piece of paper and tried to work out how I’d have the most fun doing them.
They’re now done.
…..
Tell me something really, really daft you once did at work that made the whole day bearable.
In my last few months at my last desk job in New York City, I was at my wit’s end with the incompetent way the place was run, not to mention the mind-numbing work itself. This was in 2006, so it was still quite novel to be able to find whole episodes of TV online. As soon as I got into work, I’d plug my earphones into the computer and watch episodes of Scrubs until the writers brought me their copy. Not the best use of company time but, hey, the writers always kept me waiting hours for copy anyway, and after a few episodes of comedy, I could greet them with a smile on my face instead of a snarl.
Wit’s End is normally a great place to find fun new things to do. That moment where the rules break and you’re giving yourself carte blanche to do whatever the hell feels right.
(I’m now imagining you as the editor out of Spider-Man. If this is unfair or if this is accurate, please don’t kill me, I apologise unreservedly).
Thing is about Wit’s End – it’s a *creative* place. Goofing off is yoga for the imagination. And I despair of companies that are desperate for new ideas yet stamp down hard on goofery.
And this is part of the point behind this post. Turn it into a wry game, and it becomes the opposite of a chore – something you want to do. Want true brand loyalty? Make your product silly and fun.
Best example I’ve ever seen:
http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk/bored/gallery/labels/
i once shoved as many grapes in my mouth as i possibly could and as i was in the process of doing this, a coworker walked into my cubicle.
i used to “break into” a coworker’s computer and change his screensaver to something completely inappropriate for the office.
i used to switch the “a” and “s” key of a coworker’s keyboard.
i used to pencil a coworker’s phone… as in the earpiece would be drawn on and when he used his phone repeatedly, his ear would be black from the pencil lead.
once at a training i knew the coworker hadn’t turned off his phone so i texted him and of course, it buzzed so loudly. it was quite hilarious.
in retaliation, said coworker knew of my absolute fear of mice. he blacked a tampon and left it in my path as i was walking to my desk… he pulled the string and it moved slightly. i damn near shit my pants. granted, on closer inspection, it looked nothing like a mouse, but when you’re walking, minding your business, and you see a black thing move slightly on the ground, it looks like a mouse.
Fine work, all.
(Although the S/A swap wouldn’t work on geeks. Next time, try reversing the Numberpad keys – ie. instead of 123/456/789, the order turns to 321/654/987. It’s a real killer, that one).
(And – screensaver? Try taking a screenshot of the Desktop, then remove all the icons off-screen and then make the Desktop background the screenshot. The result? It looks like everything’s there, but you….can’t….CLICK…ANYTHING!).
The tampon is just evil. Wars have started for less.
This might be cheating but… the funnest thing I’ve done recently to make work bearable was I skipped out of it at lunch time, met up with my girlfriend who’d done the same and we drove up to Maine to lounge on the beach, drink beer and eat fresh lobster. Best Friday afternoon EVER.
(Skipping out of work to meet a girlfriend?
You’d never get ME doing that.
Neglecting one small international incident in 2001 involving Hull, Zebrugge and a seminar contribution prepared on your laptop, of course. APART FROM THAT, I mean).
Fresh lobster? As in you caught it yourselves? That’s impressive. Also, weird. You guys are weird and impressive. Fine work.
GG, you totally reminded me of something else I used to do to make that last office job more bearable – with two other coworkers, I formed a “One Beer Club.” If we both had long lulls in our schedule at the same time, we’d sneak off to a nearby bar and get just one beer. It was awesome! And, once again, was completely necessary to keep me as friendly as possible to the writers.
Love the One Beer Club! There’s been a few times at work where group meeting didn’t go so well (boss was in a bad mood and unnecessarily sarcastic in his criticism) so my colleague and I went out for lunch at a local pizza place that stocks about 150 beers from all over the world, but I’m afraid I was never able to limit myself to just one…
Once, I worked with Mike Sowden.
That was fun!
Lies Richard P. I’ve worked with Mike. It wasn’t fun and involved NoGMS.
i worked with him too, he’s just an automaton, no fun at all…..
I AM Mike Sowden, and I can vouch for him 100%.
I’m not saying he’s fun. I’m just saying I can vouch for him. He’s definitely Mike Sowden. Rather than a machine, which seems to be what belly is suggesting there.
I’ve banned myself from my dayplanners (yes I have about 4 – 5) and work has become a joy, utterly fabulous. I make myself as comfortable as possible, and just work. It also helps turning the phone off and being a hermit. Really does. Having immense fun building up a body of work for my solo show…
When you’re working for yourself, do you find the added incentive to work (becase you directly reap all rewards) outweighs the dangerous freedom of making up your own schedule?
i never do anything fun at work. ever.
i learned this from working at Hornsea Pottery for too long. fun makes people happy, and happy people do more and better work. so why would you do it. it makes no business sense at all.
fool.
Yes, I learned similar lessons. Mainly about the importance of morale and treating the people who work for you with respect and dignity, otherwise backstabbing and casual petty theft will be part of your factory-floor culture. And the importance of washing the clothes you work in at least once a week.
Looking back, though, the thing that really fills my mind is the image of the ‘Model C’. Slapping the piece of clay down onto the mould, half a second before the superheated metal tool came down and pressed it into a plate. Those times when I was a bit slow, and missed having my hand ripped off. Or the blades on the handle deseamers, so all you had to do was get your hand trapped on a die and round it went and down came the blade and *chuckkk*, no more piano lessons.
Looking back, I genuinely can’t believe I didn’t at the very least lose a finger or two. Especially when I think of how many others did….
Ah. Happy days, eh?
This is idiotic, but true. Once a shared an office with Very Tall Ed. He was well over six feet, easily close to seven. We had this desks that you could adjust up and down with a crank handle. And I cranked Very Tall Ed’s desk down as low as possible. When he walked in the room and stood there over his lowered desk, I started to giggle, and then, burst in to hysterics that lasted, intermittently, throughout the day. “I think I have vertigo,” he said, standing there, towering over his far away work surface.
Harmless practical jokes go a long way. Though also, hey, quitting your job works too. I’m a fan.
“I think I have vertigo”. Haha.
In an office job, I (or rather we) once swapped a desk out for an identical but slightly smaller model, so everything on it was slightly closer together. The victim spent the morning knocking things off the edge of it and cursing her clumsiness.
Yes, jacking the whole dayjob thing in and doing something more productive and more You, that’s *truly* fun.
I hear ya.