Creativity and Workplace Fun

I started formulating this idea in the shower. Of course, that is where I get many of my brilliant ideas.

Why is that?

Want to know why all our great ideas are when we are showering, or driving, or walking?  It is because that is when our brains are active.  In the corporate world where productivity means money and productivity traditionally looks like sitting at a desk, when are we allowed to be creative?

We have these amazing ideas but we are never allowed to be creative.  This is why companies sit us at desks.  Companies expect productivity and yet they never allow our brains to actually function properly. 

Let us take the Google Company for example. Google is so powerful.  They allow their workers to play and play is a part of their work. 

The cliche ping pong tables at an office that is “new age" or "woke" are successful for a reason.  Don’t even get me started on schools. Students who are given 15 minutes of play every hour have higher rates of happiness, higher amounts of scholarships, higher grade point averages, and are able to define success in their own way.  That is huge! Success doesn’t always mean money FYI.

We need to allow people to be creative again. 

We need to stop sticking people at their desks and expecting results. 

We need to allow for connection.  Allow for play.  Allow for time to debrief.  Allow for people to rest. 

We are all creative in our own way. Creativity doesn’t mean painting an art piece or creating a statue. It means coming up with new ideas on how to approach a problem. Creativity means looking at something and saying hey, have we tried this? It doesn’t matter what field of work you are in, we need longer breaks. We need play. We need fun. It will allow us all to be successful.

There is a lot of talk around paying people a salary based around a 40 hour work week but only having those people work 26 of those hours. Let me tell you, as someone who is currently working 20 hours a week, that would be life changing for me.

A 40 hour work week, is really only 30, after you factor in a half hour a day for breaks (as per Alberta labour laws), and the general office chit chat. The other 4 hours leftover (going down to 26 hours) are spent with us staring at screen or problem and attempting to get the motivation to write or come up with something. I can tell you right now, that my 20 hours are productive. I get to play and banter with the team, get work done, am focused, and NOT burnt out.

15 minutes twice a day isn’t enough for people to have a break, especially when this includes bathroom breaks. I won't even go into how some people are still making minimum wage and are away from their homes for 9 hours with only two paid 15 minute breaks.

As someone who has been finding my creativity again, I feel fresh and liberated to share. For the first time in years I have 5 draft blog posts that I have been working on. So, let me ask, what do you think about getting paid a living wage, creativity, and longer breaks?

This is, after all, AboutU.

Written by:

Victoria

Founder, Activist, Human

AboutU