THE SIXTH HOUR
UNIVERSITY PROJECT // 2019
Our story begins with a girl who wasn’t getting enough sleep. She worried that her quality of work was being affected by the way she was balancing her productivity. She decided it was time for change in practise.
Frank Duveneck, Siesta (1887)
PROBLEM
As I enter my twenties, I’m learning to juggle my job, my internship, university and my personal life. For all of these tasks to run like clockwork, I require sleep, or at least time to rest for a moment. I struggle to get up for an early morning shift and classes, but by the end of the day find myself wasting an hour in bed scrolling reddit instead of getting some much needed z’s.
Luis Muntané Muns, THE SIESTA (1899–1987)
CONCEPT
Surely this whole process could be a lot more productive and useful. The idea I had was to bring the concept of the Spanish siesta to the hardworking people of Melbourne. I want to evolve it from a post-lunch snooze to a gear-changing moment in the day where you can refresh your mentality in the hopes of improving work productivity, sleeping habits and family time.
Vincent Van Gogh, IL MERIGGIO (La Siesta), 1889-1890
RESEARCH
I want to explore how I could create a more productive work schedule that would allow for resting time in-between a long shift, and fewer but more efficient work days, and save some of our precious time for family and general wellbeing. Studies show that we feel the most productive between 8am and 12pm which then heavily declines as we head into the mid-afternoon slump. 33% of people stated that taking a break was the best turbocharger for their productivity. Taking a moment to escape from work, relax and change your thinking and improve the quality of your work.
THE GAMe
I created a board game for parents to play with their kids, with the objective being to create a balanced lifestyle. It has 60 unique cards with fun little life anecdotes, 3D printed character pieces and an interactive board. I’m hoping it will be good for parents to talk to their kids at least about finding a balance in their lives. Perhaps even the cards can give the parents some insight on how they should maybe not be working as much, and find more time for the other parts of life. The concept for the board game came from reading ‘Time on Our Side: Why we need a shorter working week’ by Anna Coote.
“Nature has not intended mankind to work from eight in the morning until midnight without that refreshment of blessed oblivion which, even if it only lasts twenty minutes, is sufficient to renew all the vital forces.”
— Winston Churchill
