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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Rel" data-source="post: 7650348" data-attributes="member: 99">In the past week I've seen not <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130403215758-22330283-the-importance-of-scheduling-nothing?ref=email" target="_blank">one</a> but <a href="http://blog.idonethis.com/post/45912361388/busyness-not-virtue" target="_blank">two </a>brilliant blog posts about the same concept:  Downtime.  The idea is: we are just too damn busy and it is not making our lives better.  Cramming every available minute with stuff to do is not only keeping us stressed out but it's <a href="http://www-cs-faculty.stanford.edu/~eroberts/cs181/projects/2004-05/crunchmode/econ-hours-productivity.html" target="_blank">actually not doing us any favors in terms of productivity either</a>.A lot of people seem to think being busy all the time is a good thing.  If they are constantly in motion they must be important or getting a lot done, right?  Maybe folks are afraid if they are ever perceived as having free time, they won't be thought of as valuable.   This seems especially true of people who work in an organization.  Lots of employers these days (bad ones) convey that employees are just lucky to have a job at all.  If they are going to keep their job they had better have their nose to the grindstone every minute.This is a terrible way to keep folks productive.  It leads to fatigue, mistakes, and burnout.  It makes people resent their employer as a merciless task master.  It actually causes them to look for ways they can slack off just so they don't feel so pressed all the time.This isn't only a problem at work.  Sometimes leaving the office is very much an "out of the frying pan..." type of situation.  You leave and run by the bank on the way to get the kids on the way to the library on the way to soccer practice on the way to pick up dinner on the way home now hurry and eat and get their homework done and brush their teeth so they can get to bed so you can collapse and get up early to get them to school and go back to work.  I'm exhausted just typing that sentence and I'll bet it's no picnic to read either!  Is anybody there having a fun time or feeling like they are giving enough attention to what is really important?Allowing yourself ample time to finish your tasks is an important element to doing quality work.  You might still cut corners if you have enough time.  But you'll almost certainly have to cut corners if you don't.Perhaps more importantly, having more than enough time gives you the opportunity to notice patterns within what you're doing that might spark ideas.  Ideas about how to do things better or differently.  Perhaps ideas about how to do new things.  Of course, coming up with new things to do might be how you got in this mess in the first place.My mantra for starting new projects is, "If it's not a 'Hell yes!' then it's a 'No thanks.'"  I don't start stuff about which I'm not VERY enthusiastic.  And I'm constantly evaluating whether there are projects I've taken on which are bogging me down.So reviewing all of these practices this week has given me pause to evaluate the sorts of games I tend to run.  I think I am too often the sort of taskmaster that I decry above.  The PC’s in my campaigns seldom have a moment to catch their breath before they are off on the next adventure packed with danger and action.  Granted, most of those adventures are a little bit more riveting than the average trip to the bank or grocery store.But too much constant motion means that the PC’s aren't really putting down roots or connecting with the little pleasures that breathe life into the game.  It makes the fantastical character more relatable to the player. Spiderman is a lot more interesting and relatable when he has the occasional quiet dinner with Aunt Mae or romantic evening out with MJ.I remember one time I did this really well.  It was years ago and the PC’s had journeyed through dangers untold to arrive at this Druid Grove.  When they got there, certain that some new danger awaited them, they were shocked to discover the place quiet and serene, under the protection of a massive Treant guardian.  The Treant basically said, "Relax.  It's safe here.  The water is clean and fresh.  The ground is soft and covered with moss.  There is food in abundance.  Your wounds will be tended and you may sleep without posting a watch."  I've never seen a more paranoid group of players in my over 30 years of gaming.Just as importantly, I've never seen a group more willing to take on any danger when that place was later threatened.  It became a sort of home base for them to return to, and they weren't about to let anything threaten it.  They would have shed their last drop of blood to protect it.I try to remember to have these moments in my games where, amid all the fighting, scheming, and mayhem, the PC’s can simply have a hot bath at the inn.  And when they step out there are fluffy towels to greet them, not a demon disguised as a bar of soap.If nothing else, it keeps them completely off guard.Are you taking time out to relax and remember the important things?  Are you getting these moments into your games?</blockquote>

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