Productivity: April 2009 Archives

Nintendo Wii sold out quickly when it was first released and its popularity only continued to grow. The interesting thing about the Wii is that it isn't just for video game fiends and the other usual suspects. Whether it's playing the guitar and drums in Rock Band, or working out with Wii Fit, there's something for everyone. And that's good--because Wii is everywhere. There's even a bar/restaurant here in Boston called Achilles Project, where you can play on a Wii while you have a beer (although, one might argue, that could be disastrous for your game).

At GotVMail, we knew couldn't come up with any good reason not to set-up a Wii Room at our headquarters, so we went ahead and mounted a nice LCD screen on an Ergotron cart and put it with the Wii in a dedicated room for people to enjoy.

So, how do you convince your boss (or yourself) to purchase and install Wii in your office? Use one of the arguments I've listed below.

• All work and no play makes for some really agitated employees. Everyone at GotVMail works incredibly hard, but sometimes people need a break. Easy way to blow off some steam? Play a fellow team member in a 10 minute game of tennis! (Of course.) Playing Wii is a good way to free your mind, let go of your frustrations, and think like a kid for a bit (and that's good for everyone's productivity).
• Wii gets employees talking. No matter the size of your company, there will be people who don't interact with each other on a regular basis. Wii brings a lot of people together, and during a few games, gets them talking, too. Wii lets up to four employees play at a time. This is crucial for community building in your workplace.
• We all could use some fun. These days, fun is hard to find. People are struggling. Why not make the workplace a little more upbeat? No, playing Wii won't solve the economic crisis, but it might help some of our bigger problems seem more manageable.

It's great to see people taking a break and having some fun playing the Wii in any of our offices in Boston or Austin. Our most popular games have been Wii Sports and Madden 09 in the quick 5 on 5 mode.

So send this blog post to your boss and get employees playing Wii to relax, socialize, have fun, and be more productive.

I think our pre-school and kindergarten teachers had it right: at a certain point in the day, you just need to close your eyes, and if possible, get some shut-eye. Even in the "adult world" of 9 to 5 work, there's just something about "shutting down" both your computer and your mind for about fifteen minutes per day that just re-starts your brain, and makes you even more productive when you wake up.

But why won't people admit that napping--a practice rooted in childhood--could actually boost productivity in adult environments? After all, the statistics are there to support the benefits of napping: according to the National Sleep Foundation, "[a] study at NASA on sleepy military pilots and astronauts found that a 40-minute nap improved performance by 34% and alertness 100%." Researchers at the Center for Sleep and Consciousness also discovered that sleep's basic function is to "remove the noise" accumulated in the brain from tasks performed each day, allowing the brain to "refresh" itself. The University of Wisconsin's Sleep and Medicine Program also states on their site that sleep is vital for proper brain function: "Some experts believe sleep gives neurons a chance to maintain themselves. Without sleep, neurons may become so overloaded by normal cellular activities that they begin to malfunction." Why not give our brain the help it needs with a fifteen or twenty minute nap each day to recover and consequently, be more productive?

We're a long way from providing an assigned "nap time" for those who work in offices, but I'm doing my part as a business owner and considering the benefits for our employees, all of whom stare at bright computer screens for more than eight hours a day, working on multiple projects. Even if the solution is something as simple as asking people to take fifteen minutes each afternoon to simply shut their eyes and recharge, something has to be done to beat the afternoon "drag" when the brain starts to feel the fatigue of the day. Who knows, we might even have to take one of our empty spaces here at the office and create a dedicated relaxation room...