Let's have more fun at work (part 1 of 2)

Excerpts from Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously) by Bree Groff

I often wrestle with why I write my newsletter. While there’s an infinite number of ways to permute the human language into something technically original, I’m skeptical there are many truly new sentiments to express. I aim to make each newsletter uniquely mine, though I often worry I’m just repeating generic sentiments.

Additionally, I often stumble upon pieces of work that resonate deeply with me. Someone will describe a concept or a feeling or a theory that I’ve also had, except that they’ll do it in a particularly elegant, succinct, or otherwise really easily digestible way. It’s pretty magical to feel so seen and understood by a stranger’s words.

I have decided that the most efficient thing to do in these moments is to share what I’ve read and to think of myself as a (hopefully) better version of Sparknotes/ChatGPT for you all.

With my preamble done, let’s get down to it. I’m really excited to share about a book I just started reading: Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously) by Bree Groff.

As I alluded to earlier, I felt a really deep resonance when I opened this book. I immediately thought to myself, I have to share this with my friends. There are so many of them who’d benefit from hearing this.

To set the stage, the book opens with the debate around what role work should serve in our lives, juxtaposing adages like “Love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life” against “Work is called work for a reason.” (I always think of “It’s called compensation for a reason” because it’s often quoted by my father-in-law.)

Bree then goes on to write:

If I spend roughly one-third of my life at work, I’d like that slice of pie to be a good one. I want more than meaning, which is certainly important. I also want to be having fun.

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What follows are my favourite excerpts along with some commentary, presented in order but in a relatively disjointed way. Consider yourself forewarned.

Not all days will be fun. I’m a fan of the word “most” as in “Most work, most days, should be fun.” [...] But you don’t need me to tell you that some days at work are bad. In those moments, it’s fine to not be having any fun. There’s an old Norwegian response to “How are you?” that you might find relevant on these days: Oppe og ikke gråter. It means “up and not crying.” On a not-that-fun kind of day, up and not crying is plenty.

This is also pretty relevant in life – not just work. Thought it was a handy phrase to have around for those days. In fact, I’d even venture as far as to say that having a small cry is probably acceptable too :)

Valuing scale as the ultimate aim is what turns us from humans into human resources. When you value world-changing scale as the ultimate awe-worthy goal, you simultaneously devalue human-scaled, one-on-one impact. [...] Although scale is the dream of many businesses, it’s not the lever that often creates real impact.

There’s a great anecdote in this section. I won’t go into it here – you’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out! But this really struck a chord with me. Beyond how I think about my impact at work, it resonates with how I’ve chosen to define purpose in my life. I do not believe that it’s realistic for most of us to aim to change the world. However, it’s more than attainable to have a massive impact on those who are the closest to us. Start there and see what it amounts to before biting off more than you can chew when it comes to setting goals for yourself.

Contrary to popular opinion, I specifically do not like holding up “meaning” or “purpose” as our ultimate aims. They’re good things, to be sure, but I also think they’re dangerous within a prevailing culture of overwork. [...] These words have a sneaky way of disguising a dreadful and intense working experience as a struggle for excellence and what is needed to build a legacy. In other words, work may not be fun, but it will be worth it.

There’s a series of questions that Bree shares after this to illustrate the pitfalls of the “sacrifice now for reward later” mentality that many people apply to work. Here are a few that are important to think about:

• For what cost now? And for what reward?

• Am I clear-eyed about the price?

• Is it the right choice for this season of my life?

I hold a pretty strong stance that there’s very little that should ever come ahead of my personal life. For me, that generally manifests itself through a few themes – namely, family, health, friends, and new experiences.

Bree puts it in very clear terms:

As one Redditor said, ‘20 years from now, the only people who will remember that you worked late are your kids.’

Bank the joy now. Bank the smiles of people whose lives you make better. [...] Bank your health. Your rest. A memory. You won’t get to enjoy your posthumous fame and fortune.

Relatedly, another very common challenge is knowing when to quit a job. I’ve written a bit about this previously here. I really liked the reminder from Bree:

If your very truest, most honest voice inside yourself says go, then go. [...] You don’t need a fancy, well-reasoned argument for leaving a role. If in your gut you want to go, it’s time to go. Every day you spend in a role that isn’t working for you is one of your precious and finite days on this planet.

And finally, in the first few chapters that I’ve read so far, the part that I want to highlight the most is this:

Science tells us what makes the brain work well: good sleep, good nutrition, good exercise, good mental health. Funny how those four things are often the first to be sacrificed to a busy workday.

I could not beat this dead horse enough. I say it all the time to my friends, as I watch them make all these crazy tradeoffs for work.

Athletes treat their bodies impeccably with finely tuned nutrition and training schedules. [...] But knowledge workers? Brain athletes, if you will? We eagerly trash our brains if it means getting more done, regardless of the quality.

I reframed a lot of my choices while on my gap year, thinking about how the first order of business for me every day should be making sure I feel good. I should take the time to brush my teeth, wash my face, moisturize, eat breakfast, and pitter patter around my apartment before I sit down at my computer to start typing away furiously. In fact, squeezing in some fresh air and movement might be ideal before I sit down. If I don’t feel physically tip-top, how am I meant to do my best work? To Bree’s point, we are brain athletes, and our brains only work as well as the rest of us.

Often, taking a 20 minute break and going on a walk makes the next 40 minutes of my hour way more productive. It’s easy to forget that when we’re sucked into the atmosphere of to do lists and deadlines and urgent Slacks, but in reality, it’s a small tradeoff that leads to better outcomes for me and my work.

The final thing I will say here is that I have never, ever missed lunch in my almost eight years of working. Never. I am someone who does not like to miss meals, and I have always prioritized eating. There were moments when this felt super awkward, especially early in my career, but I always made it a priority. It’s crazy that I feel as proud as I do about this record – as Bree writes, “Prisoners get their meals on time–why shouldn’t office workers?”

Stay tuned for part two, as I continue reading through Today Was Fun: A Book About Work (Seriously) by Bree Groff.