My usual day consists of me going to work for eight or nine hours a day, fulfilling a job that I like, and go home to relax and try to take my mind out of the monotonous day-to-day strides of working in a high paced corporate environment. Yes, having a great job is a plus, but what’s the use if you can’t enjoy the life you’ve created or feel you’re getting more than a check from your job?

Some would say that we have our priorities in the wrong direction. Nah fam. This is the future. We create it.

In true “Player Way” fashion, I’ll break down my perspective as a millennial why are exceedingly breaking the norm in the workplace while also dominating at life as well.

 

1: Our Time Off Work is More Important Than You Think

After a long day at work, we have no qualms about taking a load off, getting a beer at the local brewery, working on a cosplay at home, or hopping on Xbox live to game for a couple of hours. We are becoming the more “experiences over possessions” based generation opposed to our older demographic.

Some of the happiest people I know work decent paying jobs, minimalize their living expenses but are constantly finding an outlet outside of work to invest in.

Yes, we care about our jobs. But we aren’t willing to take our work home with us all of the time without a solid plus side to it to keep us engaged. We’re more likely to find a career that is more fitting for our standard of living. This doesn’t make us spoiled/entitled, but honestly a stronger person.

In short: Work hard, play hard. Never be afraid to take that time for yourself and enjoy the life you’ve worked hard to create. 

 

2: We See Minimalism and Education Differently

Minimalism patterns are becoming much more apparent with millennials than any other age group. This is often due to high costs of living, with median wage equality in comparison to previous generations. College or some form of higher education is required in most instances to reach past a financial plateau (typically).

Even in the not so political manifesto of it all, we can agree that less is sometimes more and even after attaining a level of success in a career, we tend to invest in our personal activities, vacations and relationships than acquiring copious amounts of debt. Not implying that we have less debt, but a large amount of it is due to paying for expenses related to improving their standard of living by attaining a career [ i.e the “Go to college, get a good job, buy a big house, ect” dynamic].

Some millennials are preferring to avoid the traditional steps if not all those steps and following the path that leads to a better life balance and stability that lets them control their lives.

If you gotten anything from this, remember to always save more, spend less, regardless if Millennial or Gen-x. You’ll be glad you did

3: We Grow With Technology, Often effortlessly

Younger generations often get scolded for their heavy social media presence, but as businesses accommodate to more audiences in a fast paced market, the need for companies to speak to their demographic on outlets such as Twitter and Facebook is greater than ever. At this point, not doing so is a disservice to your brand.

Not to mention that computer literacy is  embedded in our brains from as young as age six. I didn’t need typing lessons in college, by then i was well over 70 wpm.

The fast paced energy of a fresh-out-of-college grad is more of a  “How we can make it better” type of energy instead of a “How do we keep the lights on and working comfortably” state of mind. Sometimes you need fresh young minds to come in and innovate your organizations.  You either change with the technology, or fall behind to those that do.

Millennials understand technology and its impact. You either ride the wave or you sink. I, however, live the surfer life. 

4: Laid-Back Workplaces Create Better Employee Morale. You’re Welcome. 

I think we’d all love to work for such a forward and welcoming company such as Google or Facebook, which has made the Top Places to Work list several times now. Companies that have more of a youthful presence tend to add small comforts to alleviate the stress of their daily jobs.

Google has resting areas for lunch breaks, pool tables, free food for employees on campus and activities that make the work experience more enjoyable. Most of these companies recruit the best and the brightest out of college, create internship opportunities with students and have incentive programs for continuous advancement in their career paths.

All this does is add to the companies value and in turn the employee gains a great relationship with the business. So in short, yes, millennials are making workplace leisure a standard and the trend continues.

You still have some companies with a predominantly young workforce that still exert more of a conservative work balance, but oftentimes its to keep the sense of “structure” in the environment. Stats show that an employee that thoroughly engages at work and feels more “at home” is likely to stay there. Lets hope every one else follows suit.

Agree? Disagree? Lets talk in the comments section.

Darius (TrendyCosplayer)