I’m sorry friends, but is it just me or does it seem that everyone is walking around like a a bunch of zombies these days.  Stress, 24 hr news, the Internet is wearing everyone down.  Television is obnoxious these days, politics is ridiculous and is going to get worse, and sports has bored me to tears.

All of us in the creative department took a little field trip yesterday and we went to the lake for a two hour meeting because the weather was fantastic and I could get the sense that all of us needed a break.  Cracking a window just wasn’t doing it.  As I have mentioned before, creative people suck when they’re crabby and unable to think.  While at the lake we discussed numerous project and prospects and I handed out assignments for the upcoming weeks ahead.  But what was weird was that watching other people it seemed more than obvious that everyone was depressed and stressed out.

So, I asked the group if anyone felt stressed out and I received a barrage of complaints and gripes and with everyone (the five of us) all stressed out about everything.  Including me I have to say.  The range of issues started at relationships and ended up at not making enough money and included tons of other stuff in the middle.  The one point that everyone made was the inability to sleep at night .  Now that’s a health issue that concerns me.  If you can’t sleep nothing is going to work for you the next day.  Then you feel like a zombie.  You can also see it in a the eyes.  If they’re tired the eyes give it away every time.

After the meeting which cancels out the Friday meeting we all went to happy hour and blew off the rest of the day.  Sometimes just getting away and venting is the best thing you can do but it doesn’t work unless you make some changes.  Here’s what I did:

• Flexible hours and no set time to get in as long as you mark on the board when you will get in and your work is completed and approved.
• 20% time for personal projects can be accumulated to a half day per week.  This gives them a half day of work on a project instead of an hour a day.  20% time is very cool and a great benefit and really lets the staff play with new equipment and think differently.  Julie is writing a children’s book and working on a billboard design.  Without 20% time she never would have tried either one of these projects.
• Weekends can be split.  This is a trial period only and has never worked very well in the past.  But I’m willing to try it.

I’m hoping to relieve some of the stress on the gang and when they’re not stressed out I’m not stressed out.

Jim

The post Like Zombies Wandering the Streets. . . ! appeared first on Arrowsmith Shoes.