We all have excuses, don’t we?
We all have the reasons why we do what we do and why we don’t do what we want to do (or need to do). We’ve created justifications, rationalizations, and everything in between so that we can become less culpable, less guilty, and less accountable for the actions or responsibilities that we’ve been given.
But sometimes our excuses might be completely legitimate – it just depends on who you talk to at that point!
For example, one could say that the above cartoon showcasing two programmers who are “slacking off” are in-fact doing the best thing that they could possibly be doing at that point in time!
For those that might not understand and who may not have a development background when your code is “compiling” you must wait for it to complete and depending on what is being compiled it actually could take a decent amount of time.
And they deserve a break from working hard to get it to that point so spending a bit of time refreshing themselves with a bit of swordplay may truly be the best thing that they can do, especially since they’ll have to jump back in shortly to do even more work.
This made me consider for myself if there are things that I do that are legitimate based on the context but might be perceived as “slacking” and an excuse for not doing work by anyone else.
Hah! Level 60 Demon Hunter via Diablo 3
The first thing that came to mind was my interest (and possibly obsession) with video games and how video games serves as an incredible opportunity for me to relieve tension as well as the fact that it serves as an incredible source of joy and entertainment.
What does the time that I spend on video games have anything to do with software development, online publishing, coaching others, and leading teams? Everything…!
This isn’t an excuse for not being “productive” – it is a source of energy and replenishes my passion for the work that I love to do! I’m not built in a way where the work that I do is in and of itself an eternal source of energy – I use up my energy doing the work that I love and need to find other sources to recoup and be restored.
My Level 60 Barbarian via Diablo 3
Some may call it an “excuse” for not being productive but I see it as an indispensable part of being productive and maintaining a high level of performance!
I bet you have a few things like this as well – love to hear your “excuses” that are an important part of what you do!
Would love to hear how you limit your gaming or other outlets while still be productive.
boundaries my man, boundaries! my wife and i agree on these and we stick to it.
Would love to hear how your wife deals with all of your gaming. World of Warcraft was almost the end of me. I did play through Alpha Beta and Gold though so played for wayyyy too long. Miss it weekly though.
wow, i have a very similar story… i’ll have to expand on this.
A lot of times if I have a bit of a spell of writer’s block and I just want some new ideas I’ll watch movies or seasons of my favorite shows on blu-ray/dvd…it makes me feel like I’m kinda slacking, but I know that I’m just trying to get ideas
Agreed. This is a great way to relax your mind and let new ideas come to you from the inspiration of other people’s work.
Oh man I L-O-V-E video games.
A few years ago I was addicted and burned at least 4 years of my life in that obsession. I had to quit cold turkey.
Since then I have learned how to balance my gaming and use it as a tool to relax and reload.
Escape in small doses is healthy.
Everything in moderation. Thanks for sharing, James. I think we are all guilty of playing our video games a little too much at times.
It’s good practice and common courtesy (and required by law) to give attribution to Creative Commons licensed works such as XKCD. http://xkcd.com/license.html
Friendly FYI.
Hey John,
You and my husband row the same relaxation boat. I have no idea how you guys find that stuff relaxing – it brings out the competitor in me and gets me wound up instead.
For me it’s being outdoors riding my horse or exercising. They are necessities for me to remain productive, creative and pleasant to be around, lol.
But you bring up a really good point. Not long ago, I was listening to one of the authors who wrote The Power of Full Engagement talk about our four energy centers.
He said everyone gets the first three: Food, Exercise, and Sleep, but almost everyone misses the fourth – REST.
It’s undervalued in our society, and it’s a shame. Because ironically, rest is the very thing that maximizes our ability to recharge.
Happy gaming!
Thanks for sharing, Marlee. Rest is highly important!
Cartoons are my thing…I write, I study, I read, I work and then once that’s all done, a hour or two of “The Fairly OddParents” or “Pokemon” and I’m good to go!
LOL! That is awesome. It seems like a great way to relax your mind.
Absolutely, plus, I must add it inspires me to write different stuff for my blog, for my stories and more!
I have three outlets:
1. I ride my bike down the road to the base of the Rincon Mountains here in Tucson, and then hike for a while with the cactus, lizards, roadrunners and rattlesnakes.
2. I work on either designing, installing or painting the moldings in our home so I can write more posts about them.
3. I read TentBlogger!
These are all great outlets! And they seem to help spark more creativity in your writing.
I’m an avid gamer was well. I’ve played Diablo 2, D3, World of Warcraft, the list goes on.
Over the past 2 years when I started writing and blogging, I neglected gaming. Gaming is often the thing I do when my mind needs a break from my work.
Sure, I got a lot done, but at times I would also be very frustrated; and the only thing on my mind would be my work and nothing else, so conversations at times were a little too focused on me.
When I started to game again, I noticed a big difference in how I approach my work as well as how I was producing my work. The point: there needs to be balance. It can be anything. It just so happens that video gaming really gets my mind off writing and everything I do.
P.S, if you want, add me diablo 3, junbear#1987.
Yesssss! Thanks for sharing, Paul.
Diablo 3 is insane! Love it.
It’s also the same for video editors, or digital effects artist when things are rendering. Unfortunately my current job doesn’t include any technology that would have down time like this. If I did though, you can bet I’d be on an XBox playing Gears of War 3! lol!
I read a study once about changing the pay of maintenance or sys admins to pay them more when they are not working. The idea is that when they are busy, the machines/network is down. We incent them to do preventative work and support uptime directly.
Imagine how much better that would be. Get paid extra for playing the games because it makes you more productive later.
Well, in my case gaming is working in a way – I’m running a gaming website
I’m always amazed, how much you can express through a well-designed game, some are truly works of art! And you can actually learn a lot from some of them, I’ve even started a series of articles on using business/management knowledge in games – quite a good practice in safe environment in fact.
Cheers,
Adam
1. A good nap.
2. Hang with my wife (sans kids)
3. Hang with my kids
4. Get out in nature
there are others, but those are the first that come to mind. And yes, a good nap does sometimes take the #1 preferred spot. Does that make me bad?