Why Mindless Diversions Are Important

Why Mindless Diversions Are Important The old adage goes that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.  Needless to say, it also makes Jane a dull girl.  While its easy to condemn the many options our modern culture puts before us to waste time, its not always a waste.  Here are some thoughts on giving  yourself permission to zone out for a while. You Are Not Your Work You are a  human being, not a perpetual thought-bearing and task-completing being.   Youre  a complex creature that occasionally wants and needs to escape the reality of  here-and-now with the  allure of  being someone or somewhere else. Its okay to unplug.  Its okay to invent and indulge in your escape from the constant demands on your attention from multiple sources.  Allowing yourself a time-out helps to melt away the stresses of a world of over-stimulation. Be An Irresponsible Kid Again Remember when you were a child?  How you could grab a skip rope or your favorite video game and play for hours?  As adults we often forget some of the benefits of being young.  We tell ourselves that we need to be responsible and do what responsible adults do.  Unfortunately, in our culture that usually means anything other than being productive isnt okay. Newsflash: it is okay.  The benefits of living in the moment are huge.  Stress reduction alone is a major plus, with positive side effects that fill text books.  For a list of all the benefits of re-claiming your rights to act more like a child, check out All Womens Talk. Play Enhances Work Can you guess what Google, 3M, and Zappos have in common?  Unstructured, playful work environments.  Child-like diversions and simple play are encouraged.  Because they re-charge the creative juices that are used in work, and productivity increases. While you may not be able to get your boss to buy into the idea yet, you can do it on your own.  Instead of having coffee with your friend at break time, take a fun break.  Better yet, take a fun lunch instead of reading that journal or business report. Easy Options to Escape If youve divorced yourself from your inner child so far that you cant even think of good options, theres still hope.  With the internet, theres a virtual smorgasbord of sites that will take you on pleasant diversions for a few minutes or a few hours.  Heres a few: Kids Video Games:  Try Pogo for all the games you see your kids play. Creative:  Like to draw and color? You can do that on your computer or smartphone, too. As you can see, the options are only limited by your imagination.  And thats the very thing you want to have more of! Images: Main  ben britten