In the heart of every person is a desire to sit down and relax with a hot beverage while talking to peers. Managers may seem oddly happy for no reason; however, managers are also extraverts who are excellent at gauging needs. While micromanagement and kudos do not replace the incentive associated to work, it is helpful to let everyone know how much progress is being made and give everyone a treat.
Working endless days wondering when it will all pay off is depressing. It could be years before accomplishing part of the original goal and then it is human nature to want more and establish another bigger goal. To say "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," a proverb popularized by Jack Nicholson in "the Shining," is an understatement.
As expressed in "the Art of War" by Sun Tzu, share the plunder amongst the soldiers. An immediate, yet smaller reward motivates everyone to continue challenges. Nothing makes people happier than seeing a glimpse of the future in their daily lives.
People are always talking about value-added and non-value-added business policies. A paid vacation, compliment, friendly conversation or office party is a never-ending value-added policy. It is a time to experience, even if for only a moment, what work will produce.
Working in pizza I noticed how important relaxation was when we had to get everything done quickly. Despite quivering hands and flailing around by remaining relaxed I achieved twice as much, because I wasn't adding additional time to quiver and flail.
Later on, I was an assistant manager and for the first time, it was possible to go home. Usually I sat around complaining about who said what, thinking about what to do next or how to fix something. Suddenly it was possible to turn it all off and think about what was happening now. Sometimes, I even relaxed. Later on at work, I was relaxed, focused and sometimes something happened to correct an issue at work.
Blogging is an odd type of work. A person makes their own hours. The information is the valuable asset. In my particular blogs which are business, philosophy or self-improvement orientated, I almost feel like a manager. People process these ideals and utilize them to enrich their lives. Where is the break, since it is the thing people do to relax? So I will now tell all my readers to take a break. Enjoy life, block work and stop worrying about money.
Every weekend I acknowledge the Sabbath and it is great to watch television and not do anything but sit around doing nonproductive hobbies and think about other interests. It was a challenge at first. Sitting their thinking of a long to-do list, yet the list never ends. In fact, I have even more to do now than when I started.
It all started off with writing so many blogs a week and posting them. I'd jot down ideas all week. Writing and researching was okay, but then I needed shiny things on the site, so it is more appealing. After figuring out all the nuances to have a serious blog, I have a list of ideas that will keep me preoccupied for years. This is how it should be.
Now when relaxing on the Sabbath, no matter how important or fantastic the latest idea was I realized there is nothing more important than letting setting it aside for a day so I'll be refreshed to write next week. That one day a week prevents me from becoming overly-enthralled, involved and spastic over saving whole, vast world from impeding waves of doom.
Instead, it is a peaceful day of reflection. I feel refreshed. It gives me time to think about how great everything is and will be one day: people with their new jobs, experiencing living their own life, sharing ideas and helping others. It is like experiencing a shorter version of a long vacation of chatting with people and cool stuff, the reason why we do anything.
Related Article
Democracy's Spaghetti Sauce
Hold onto the Good Stuff
Managing Change at Work
Startup Follies
Tense Situation
Thoughts and Actions
Quirky Books
The Art of War by Sun Tzu