Designers // Current

Student Designs for $1

This year’s International Contemporary Furniture Fair had an interesting exhibit on... more

whitespacecarpet
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4 days ago
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Jim and Hester - Interior Designers

Jim Walrod is a self-taught designer and design consultant who’s been dubbed "The... more

Revel_In_New_York
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8 days ago
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You Know You’re Rich When You Can Afford A Louis Vuitton Electric Chair (Such Sleek Shackles!)

jrn
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9 days ago
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Game Developer Creates Paper Model of His Head for Halloween

Game developer Eric Testroete wanted to be creative this Halloween when selecting his... more

MrKLM
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14 days ago
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Modular Floor Pillows

ZipZip floor cushions provide a great alternative to traditional furniture for... more

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20 days ago
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Rainbow Created using 5000 Pantone Chips

If Basheer Graphic Books wants to promote Pantone color books to art college students... more

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20 days ago
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Stella McCartney for Gap Kids

Stella McCartney designed a line for Gap Kids and Baby Gap set to hit stores November... more

Kay_Bee
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25 days ago
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Tom Ford Is Back

Tom Ford is back designing womenswear. Get ready ladies!

Kay_Bee
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25 days ago
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3D Garage Door Covers

Well, this is unusual. Um, all garage doors have the same basic design and function. I... more

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1 month ago
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Carhenge

Everyone is familiar with Stonehenge, one of the great mysteries of the ancient world.... more

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1 month ago
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Knitting against aids

There's more to knitting than you know! Designers Against Aids and the gay-lesbian... more

freefashion
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1 month ago
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The magic of Dryel

Richelle and Brittney explain the wonder that is Dryel.

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2 months ago
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Encourage Daylighting :: Sneaking side projects into a 9-to-7 schedule is becoming a way of life

Wouldn't it be great to be paid for pursuing your own passionate interests? This article explores the possibility of companies encouraging daylighting. "Sneaking side projects into a 9-to-7 schedule is becoming a way of life. We look at the benefits of encouraging "passion projects" at work."

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Some call it the side hustle, others call it the side project, but it's been coined as "daylighting" - working jobs on the side while at another one. And for young creative professionals, it's become a way of life. "The slash/slash generation are best described as do-it-all teens and twenty-somethings that undertake multiple careers - often creating brand names for themselves." While the notion of employees doing their "own thing" at a business can be threatening, it may also be an opportunity for those who manage it responsibly. How can companies free people in the slash/slash generation from the rigidity of corporate policy? Can companies accommodate multiple interests and passions to further develop the potential of their employees? What if they actually allow, or even encourage, "daylighting"?

Lines are blurring, and it's no longer enough to just focus on work/life balance. Companies today also need to focus on the work/work balance. Side projects reflect the different interests and passions of each employee. Rather than suppressing creativity, nurture it, knowing that a happier workforce is proven to be more productive, and loyal. By encouraging "daylighting" in working hours, companies are making an investment in more well-rounded employees, whose increased knowledge and experience is bound to give back.

Of course, daylighting needs to be transparent to one's team, and it can't be in a competitive product or service. The obligation to exceed expectations in your full-time job must come first. And, there is a fine line between daylighting and procrastinating from other stuff that has a deadline. Daylighting should not happen at the expense of other responsibilities. Instead, daylighting should fill the time when you might otherwise daydream and zone out. Done right, daylighting should serve your full-time job just as much as it serves you.

Google has taken measures to encourage outside interests, enacting the 70/20/10 rule, which allows employees to spend 20% of their time on "Innovation time off" pursuing their own ideas that relate to Google and then 10% of their time on stuff completely unrelated to Google. This could be reading a book, drawing in Photoshop, or going to a museum. By doing this, Google gains a loyal employee by allowing them to do whatever they want without Big Brother looking over their shoulder. At the same time, it captures innovative thinking due to random stimulation.

Other companies like 37signals have gone as far as "paying for employee passions, interests, and other curiosities. We want our people to experience new things, discover new hobbies, and generally be interesting people."

We believe that all companies should encourage daylighting. Here are a few tips each company can do to nurture the new talent coming up in the ranks.

1) Set aside 10% of each day for "daylighting." Encourage your employees to pursue their own passion projects (whatever they may be).

2) Fund outside projects. Create a fund for each employee to pursue their passions. Behance offers each employee $500 to always continue to learn.

3) Mentor the side projects. Set aside a bi-weekly / monthly meeting to mentor employees on entrepreneurial side projects. Have employees present their findings / experience in front of the company.Wouldn't it be great to be paid for pursuing your own passionate interests? This... more