How often it happens that we forget to have some fun because there is always work to do? Let’s go for a movie after this project, let’s take a vacation after meeting this target. While it is good to be target oriented, it is necessary to have some fun along the way.
We usually postpone the vacation because we don’t want to be worried about the to-do list. But it remains a fact that that list never comes to end. There will always be something to do, some assignment to finish, some task that requires your attention.
Hence, it is necessary to take a break, especially for workaholics. We save rewards until after we’ve actually earned them, hoping that way we can really enjoy ourselves.
A study at the University of Chicago Booth School Of Business has shown why you should not put off fun till you finish all your work. The study highlighted the problem with delayed gratification. The ambitious decry instant gratification as shallow, and think that real rewards come late in time. But this harms your work-life balance to a great extent and even hampers present productivity and efficiency.
This is a problem, also because, among other benefits, leisure improves our work. People often work better and are more satisfied with their jobs after returning from restful breaks. Enjoying work also helps people stick to longer-term goals. If people intuitively put leisure last — there’s always more work to do — they may fail to take advantage of such leisure opportunities and end up feeling burned out or dissatisfied at work. We may keep postponing doing something fun for “the right time,” only to realize that it never seems to come.
The internet giant Google is known for its employee perks, including paid time off. Google employees say they can start off with three weeks of paid time off and can work their way up to five weeks if they stay with the company for five years. They also report they can take up to three months of unpaid sabbatical.
Even Netflix encourages its employees to go on a vacation. Employees have the freedom to decide when to show up for work, when to take time off, and how much time it will take them to get the job done. Since instituting the policy, it has grown its market cap to over $51 billion.
Hence, have some fun (a movie or a day out with family or a long ride) even with a pending to-do list.
