Abstract
An idle body can harbor an idle mind that often brews something appalling in emptiness. Refreshing one’s mind during Down-Time (Me-Time) with “harmless” activities is a must whether at home or at the workplace.
How time is spent can be grouped into three categories: Work-Time (WT), Home-Time (HT) and Down-Time (DT; or Me-Time [MT]). Work-Time generates the resources to cover living expenses which are mostly incurred during HT; DT or MT sustains one’s sanity during day-to-day living. The American Time Use Survey demonstrated that evolving work cultures overlap WT and HT as workers are often expected to either take work home or work from home (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017). Interestingly, with demarcation between WT and HT blurred, DT (MT) may lose ground because workers may be perceived to be “wasting” time in leisure pursuits during WT but are unaware of this presumed “wasteful” use of their time (Conner, 2015; Engemann & Owyang, 2007).With families playing a major role in accommodating WT-HT imbalance, the responsible management of DT (MT) at home falls under the workers’ purview. However, ensuring appropriate use of DT (MT) at work becomes the prerogative of workplaces. Thus, the essential question for workplaces is, Which activities are allowable or acceptable during DT (MT) at the workplace? A common goal for efficient workplaces is to prevent workers’ from being idle but rather engaging in “harmless” personal-choice activities during DT (MT) at the workplace.
The majority of job duties do not entail constant vigilance with expectations of machine-like precision. Even in security jobs, interspersed unintentional DT (MT) exists at the workplace in addition to compensable breaks, meal periods, and “early-closing days.” Therefore, what should sincere, diligent workers do during unavoidable DT (MT) at the workplace?
Although smart devices may contribute to workplace productivity, they can also distract workers via their “social” applications, which may not be bound to professional standards of the workplace. Should workers be able to read a nonwork-related book during DT (MT) at workplace? Although reading reduces stress, workers should appropriately choose books to read at work. Although reading books may be better than watching television (Medlock, 2015), “power napping” may be the best activity during DT (MT). Should high-performance workplaces encourage “power napping” for optimizing workers’ cognition? (Soong, 2011). Should workplaces encourage an environment of acceptable socializing to enhance hormonal, psychological, and social positivity? (Brondino, Fusar-Poli, & Politi, 2017; Feinberg, Willer, & Schultz, 2014). Do socializing workplaces slow the exponential growth in sedentary workers’ time in front of smart screens (Howard, 2016), especially during DT (MT)? Perhaps leaving smart screens during DT (MT) and actually walking during WT would be better for workers’ wellness (American Heart Association, 2016).
Summarily, WT, HT, and DT (MT) are constantly encroaching on one another. Refreshing one’s mind during DT (MT) with “harmless” activities is a must whether at home or at the workplace.
Footnotes
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest and received no financial support with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.