Adding a Little Joy to Your Work

I love what I do.

It's unfortunate that not many people have the privilege of saying that and I try and put in 100% of my efforts into my work every day. That being said, there will inevitably be those days or weeks where incoming tickets are slow or the work is menial.

That's often when I catch myself trying to slip in easter eggs throughout my sprint work before someone notices. As long as it doesn't negatively affect our end users and it doesn't hinder my core workload, I figure what's the harm? It's like that poem found on MacOS's document icon. It doesn't really serve a productivity benefit but it does brighten up my day whenever I see something similar pass QA and into prod from another dev.

I've included ASCII art in server logs, little loading bars on start-ups, and hidden tooltips meant to be discovered by accident. While these may seem "unnecessary" according to business requirements, they help break the monotony that grips us as developers every now and then.

This doesn't mean I waste time on these little pockets of surprise. If I have an extra few minutes at the end of my day and all my work is complete, I'll spend those extra few minutes writing a script to put some color into our lives. Plus, there is always the chance I may learn something new which does benefit business impact 🤪.

Adding micro-animations is a wonderful example of how to include a little flair to our work. Most won't really notice but the ones that do will appreciate it more than you know. Another real example is when I wrote a custom logging server and added color coding to different alert levels and formatting to the log messages. It was a fun project completed in an hour, and it made my life (and my coworkers' lives) a lot easier.

I believe doing small things like these keep the team engaged and motivated—especially during slow workdays. It's a great way to experiment with new ideas and see how they can be implemented in real-world scenarios or improve our day-to-day work.

Ultimately, I think we should all consider adding a bit of amusement and pride to our work. Plus they can lead to meaningful improvements or spark creativity. When we take the time to add these little touches, we make our code and product more enjoyable to interact with, both for ourselves and for others who come across it.

The next time you find yourself with a few spare minutes and all your tasks complete, try adding a fun ticket to your day. You might be surprised at how much of a difference a little creativity can make.