We all need to take some time to rest every now and then. This is why everyone loves a long weekend! Working is important, it allows us to pay the bills and spend money on things that make our lives easier and more enjoyable. While some people may not necessarily enjoy the idea of a holiday because they don’t get to work and make this money, that does not mean the break is not important. Even as a streamer I need to take breaks from streaming games on Twitch to gather my energy and do a better job. Just playing games may not seem like it takes a toll, but it does more than you may think at first.

If you have played World of Warcrarft, you may have seen the loading screen that reminds you to take a break every once in a while. Not only are general real-world activities (like eating, drinking, sleeping, going to the bathroom, etc.) important to your comfort, they are vital to your health. The neglect of these basic human needs due to video games have already caused more deaths than they should have, and though this point has been made many times in the past, it still needs to be said. Taking a break from video games on occasion isn’t the only instance where taking a break is beneficial.

Personally, I have been known to have problems taking breaks from work when I get really into what I am doing. It takes some time for me to realize that I have not taken a break in many hours and should probably go do something else before I continue. Often times our world does not seem to agree with this concept. Too many times it seems that getting a job done quickly is more important than getting it done efficiently. Efficiency is not about getting something completed in as short a time as possible, but about getting it done the best it can in a short a time as possible. It’s about finding the balance between what is the shortest amount of time you can do something the best it can be done. When things are done as quickly as possible, they are not done as best as they can be. On the opposite end, when a product or task is given as much time to be the absolute best it can be, it will never be done.

This idea of companies working to get something done as quickly OR as best as they can has been seen many times in the video game industry. For a recent example, look at Fallout 76. The game was in beta for less than a month and was announced within 6 months of release. It launched with one of the worst online world states in recent history and even though it has supposedly been fixed (mostly) by now, just think of how much better the launch could have been had they taken an extra year or so. On the other end of the spectrum, look at Duke Nukem: Forever for a game that took so long to be the best it could be. After more than a decade of development on this game, it launched to some of the worst criticism in gaming history. Too much time was simply put into developing this game, and in the end it felt like the developers just wanted it done with.

Moral of the story here is simple: if you are feeling overworked, it is important to rest. Straining yourself to meet a deadline or doing something that just needs to be done without being in your best state will result in a a poor outcome. Take care of yourself first before you take care of anything else. Otherwise you are only hurting yourself and not helping anyone.