Office Workers, Run!

Since I have started my cubicle adventures at an insurance company, I have experienced the joys of earning more than minimum wage, certain paid days off, and not lifting heavy things. I was certain this was the kind of job I wanted after years of work hauling stuff around at various jobs for little money and little appreciation. (Though bosses do like hard workers.)

The longer I have worked in insurance, though, the more I've started to see some of the frustrations that come with 8 hours a day in front of a computer. A health article on Yahoo goes into more detail, but basically it'll jack up your body if you sit at a desk all day and don't move around your body like a normal human being. It also isn't great to stare at a screen all the time or eat desk-candy. I used to think my dad was crazy for standing up sometimes when we watched a movie at home. "I've been sitting at a desk all day," he would tell me, "I don't want to sit anymore." I didn't used to get that. Now I get that.

Is the root of this problem computers? 

Computers have been really helpful for the insurance industry. Thanks to going paperless we now consume negligible amounts of paper. Before, we would have to reprint every page of a form with a mistake and everything had to be put in big file cabinets. Having everything on a network not only makes collaboration faster and easier, but allows for happy whales in the ocean of "quit using so much paper".

I saw an article in the BYU newspaper about this zombie app for a smart phone. It encourages people trying to make running goals by narrating a zombie story in which the main character is the runner, being chased. The best part is that if the runner isn't running fast enough, she gets caught. And it's part of the story. There is also music.

Not saying that we should be running at work, but there is an issue. In some ways, computers tie us to desks. In the way of this app, it takes us outside and helps us get real exercise. I would like to see more technology do that.

I also really like hearing about how gamification and using it in the workplace to help make work less awful and more like a fun, happy game. I haven't done a lot of research, but I feel very strongly that if people are going to spend the majority of their lives in front of screens, can we at least make it as fun as Candy Crush Saga or something? Pong?

Not sure how the insurance field would feel about gamification because these are very serious contracts that have to be taken very seriously. Lighten up, guys. Jeez.