I ask because my own fucking-around time has reached virtually zero.
That's right. Most days, I don't even have time to look at Facebook. I don't open the links that get sent around, I don't read humorous blogs, and I don't get sucked into a vortex of 90s rave videos on YouTube.
Partly this is because I'm now an ECD, but in fact it was on the decline for a while. And I'm not meaning this post to be a personal whinge, because I suspect it's true for everyone.
Agencies are having to do more with less, which means we all have to work harder. And the irony is that the rise of this glorious fucking-around medium that is the internet (in the old days, if you wanted to find a pleasant way to kill some time, you actually had to go and talk to someone!) has been accompanied by a decline in the fucking-around time we have available.
At least, that's what I suspect. But I'm wary of generalising from my own experience. Which is why I'm running a poll.
Definition of fucking-around: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs, talking to your friends, online shopping, playing games, looking at porn. Not included: personal admin such as paying bills.
To maintain some semblance of rigour, I want only creatives to vote, though people from other disciplines are welcome to comment.
What I really wonder, is whether less fucking-around time for creatives might be translating into worse work. Because we all know that today's random YouTube video becomes tomorrow's idea for a cool TV ad.
The only niggle in my mind is that when I spoke to ad guru Siimon Reynolds once, he told me that he reckoned most creatives weren't productive enough, that they spent too much time fucking around, and not enough time working. He said our work should be fun, so why would you need to fuck around? I kind of agree with this, though I do also believe that if you never replenish the well, there will one day be no water there when you need it...
13 comments:
As a matter of fact, I'm doing it now.
Cool story Hansel.
Agencies never fit creatives as they aren't designed by them or for them really.
When you coming over to my place for a beer Simon?
Irony.
huge amount of time fu$king around with old school, inefficient, expensive agency processes
The only way to buy time is to start smoking.
The mere fact that you're always on this blog means that you're "fucking around"
Isn't the whole idea process fucking around and having a laugh until something sticks?
Simon,
Is listening to music considering 'fucking around?
@Curious.
Good question.
If you are listening to music with the purpose of finding a track for a TV ad, radio ad, case study video etc, then it is not fucking around.
If you are listening to music just for fun, then it is.
@It is what it is
If you were talking to me... I write the posts on a Sunday. So, ner.
I'm an ECD now. I still manage an hour's fucking around even on busy days. It's part of the job and essential.
I worked at GGT when Trotty ran it. Even though we all worked like cunts there was always time to fuck around. Again, it's part of the job.
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