Sneak Fun Into Your Day

Kerry O'Shea Gorgone, JD, MBA and I just interviewed Michael Rucker about his book, The Fun Habit. There was a lot to unpack. (The full episode is here.) We talked about the fact that the opposite of the behavior he was hoping to promote was the whole "hustle culture" crowd, or the "work on the weekends to get ahead" type. I'm with Mike.

Just Enough Fun - a Prescription

The concept that he was espousing (my memory, not his words) was that one might seek out opportunities to intentionally explore fun of different kinds from 2 - 5 hours every day (no more than that). And there was such a thing as "passive" leisure, that wasn't the same thing. Doomscrolling or watching nine episodes of Cheers in a row or whatever wasn't what he thought we should chase. Instead, we're seeking out the kind of fun that makes you feel that sense of satisfaction and pleasure, and that gives you a stronger sense of personal agency and autonomy with the way we organize our day.

In other words, fun on your terms.

I'm a massive supporter of this, and I model it in many ways every day. For one, I play first person shooter video games. (Here's a video I made about that five years back.) I love to read for leisure. I take walks for leisure, seeking out (not intensely but you know, with my out looking out for) fun and interesting visuals or situations to bring back to my desk. Writing these essays to YOU are fun for me, too.

People Protest A Lot About Not Having Time

But as Dr. Rucker said, even people who identified as stay-at-home full time moms - considered to be the most "time poor" people surveyed - still found ways to get at least two hours of fun (defined as time they controlled for their own pleasure) for themselves.

What happens with work and life is that we schedule it very full. On my busiest of days, I only see five or six meetings scheduled. Many of my days only have one or two meetings. And I block my time to do actual work out, but I do so with the intent that work will ALWAYS come in. I have to get done what's due, but I don't have to rush around doing everything all the time.

Fun and time aren't opposites. You can have fun even while working. You can find time for fun. Time flies when you're having... fun.

Make Everything A Bit More Fun

Here are some thoughts about other ways to sneak in fun:

• Take a photo walk whenever you can - I sometimes just walk around my little town and snap photos that I find interesting for later. It's often how I get the seed of an idea for a post, too.
• Make a list of things you find fun and schedule them into each day - This one's a bit self-referential, because THIS is a list of fun things. My point is that if you don't actually have a list of fun things, once you have the time to have some fun, you might lock up and not know what you want to do to have fun.
• Regularly read a comic book or web comic or something easygoing - With so many web comics and digital comics, etc, you can let your mind unspool for a while and enjoy something online. I googled up a list of some webcomics to get you started.
• Buy a few "bar puzzle" toys to fidget with at your desk. Switch them out - You know, things like this. But you could even look at fidget toys, too.
• Never underestimate the power of mobile video games - There's a reason games like Candy Crush and Wordle and Words With Friends are super popular. People use them to relieve stress.
• Have a small playlist of super fun songs - This matches your taste, but look for extra fun boppy songs that make you want to dance, whether or not you can. (Hey Ya, by Outkast comes to mind, or that Lizzo song.)
• Explore places you haven't been locally (like restaurants) - Pop open Google Maps and give it a peek for something you've never visited. Make a half hour excursion and check it out. Even if you don't buy anything, you might find something new that sparks your thinking.
• The occasional funny video spree can do wonders - I do this quite a bit. Maybe more than Mike Rucker would recommend. I like "Old Man TikTok," or as you might call it, YouTube Shorts.
• Call that friend you keep forgetting to call - I'll be honest: I wrote this one to myself. I owe a lot of people a catch up call.
• Win at something: solitaire, tic tac toe, etc - Winning is fun. There's an incredible dopamine rush from winning something, completing something, etc. One trick might be that it has to be vaguely challenging. Winning at three-letter hangman isn't a big win. But maybe eight letter hangman works. (Wordle is hangman without the macabre spectacle, by the way.)

As with all things in life, it's not the specifics, it's what you do once you read a piece like this. MY goal? You read it and say, "Hey, I *WILL* go and put a bit more fun in my day. You're right, Chris!"

I like being right. ;)

Chris...