Lets make our work devices more fun!

If you are like me, you love computers and tech. They are the tools we use to connect to the internet and interact with people. Technology has opened so many opportunities and provided a way for us to communicate with people from all over the world. So, it sucks when your work laptop doesn’t feel as utilized as it can be. I believe part of the reason is because we only see it as a computer for work. Once our shift is over, we turn that thing off. To be honest, I was 100% the same; I didn’t want to see it as anything else but a work laptop, and once I was done for the day, I turned it off and would not touch it until the next day.

Then one day I thought about why we hate our work laptops. If you think about it, we stay on our work laptop for 8 hours a day and use it for 40+ hours a week. It should be something we should somewhat enjoy, right? I would watch other YouTubers, and if you don’t know, a lot of YouTubers have a team that works for them, and they would provide laptops to their employees, and I would see them use those laptops for things besides just work. This got me thinking, why don’t we use our work laptops like them?

Let's get some things out of the way. Yes, your employers might monitor your work laptop so you don’t want them seeing your personal things, and yes, some companies won’t allow you to use your work computer for anything besides work. Let’s assume that stuff doesn’t apply. Why not make your work computer more usable and personal to you, and actually, even if your computers are monitored or restricted, why not make something more enjoyable? When you can make something enjoyable, it makes it easier to use. Some ways I do this are adding stickers or changing the background to something that is personal to me. This can be a favorite sports team, a favorite show, or even your family.

I also like to have some personal websites and applications on my work computer as well. Because let's be real, we are not working all eight hours of the day. We surf the web, we shop, and we look at social media. I don’t change my work computer to be my own personal computer where I watch Netflix, but I like to add a few sites that I use and are quote-unquote okay to have on a work computer.

I understand the struggle with this. This is my work computer, I don’t want anything to do with this outside of work, and I definitely don’t want to risk the chance of my employers seeing my personal life. I get it and I also don’t want that. But when I see people use their work laptop for things besides work, it had me thinking am I missing something? Do I have the wrong idea? I believe that when we can make our devices more personal and easier to use, it makes work easier as well.

Then it hit me, work will always be work. But I like to have fun, and not everything I do will be fun, but I can make it more fun than it is. I believe by making your work computer more personal and enjoyable, it will also make it more fun as well. This can also improve the quality of life as well. Maybe if we talk about how to make our work computer more personal, it can make work and staying on our device more enjoyable as well.