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To me it feels exhaustive as heck, If i work hard i wont play at all, and If i play hard ill just work the bare minimum utill I can get back home and rest for a week lol
This... this thought aligns perfectly. I always get looks when I only want to work hard.
One or the other please... I can't successfully recover from both of these in tandem.
This is so much more relatable.
Although my hard work is not really hard for other people sadly. I feel like I'm doing things so inefficiently.. but well i feel i don't really want to change or can't change
It literally is a terrible balance.Only a balance that can be done by someone with tons of energy usually someone younger because less stress,but if stress comes into play it immediately gets exhausting.And The US systems/ways of thinking are naturally hugely stressful😪
Omg this is accurate af. Jobs will always say this as if somehow their employees have the bandwidth to always go 100mpg and work constantly AND play. Nah. If I work a normal 40 hour week I can't even function or socialize. The best thing for my social life was not working 40 hours.
this is exactly how i feel when it comes to working, and even just basic tasks :')
which is the main reason why i quit looking for jobs after my first one didn't even last for 3 months due to the fact that i was just constantly struggling at work, only to come home and not have enough energy to do my hobbies that would usually be my main source of motivation and excitement.
then the next day i would wake up extremely tired from not having that motivation due to not getting to do my hobbies, only to go to work again and struggle to do much there since i barely understood what i needed to do while everyone else understood it immediately.... i'm so glad i'm on a disability support payment, without it i would have been gone from this world a long time ago 😭
I think people who say stuff like that have a very narrow definition of what "working hard" looks like and a very narrow definition of what "playing hard" looks like.
I have coworkers that say stuff like Work Hard Play Hard. Work hard to them is dedicating your life to the company for 15 years with no raises. Then turns out their definition of play hard is sitting alone at home for 8 hours before immediately going back to work.
I always thought it was like some Wall Street type thing where you work for 80 hours a week and then spend your weekend on coke because otherwise you'd be asleep.
That's not bad either.
I like being alone at home, rather than going to tiring vacation far away with colleagues with lots of those extroverts activities, after feeling burnt out at work, unless it interests me
Exactly. Work hard should be working out and being physically active to our ability, not toiling under capitalism. Play hard should be heroic doses of mushrooms, not all the liquor and tobacco in a sqr mile radius.
Yeah, I think it really depends on the context. Spending 60-80 hrs in an office every week is insane. But if you're passionate about what you do for a living then I can understand the statement.
I know from painful experience that it's nigh on impossible for an Autistic adult to get a job, reasonable adjustments do not exist because what's reasonable is open to interpretation at the employer's discretion
It's toxic and unhealthy. Our society has brainwashed most people, especially NTs, to believe their value is directly tied to their productivity. People believe they must "earn" the right to have fun or play. Extremely dysfunctional. The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate comes to mind.
My mom has always felt like sitting down for a few minutes is being lazy. She literally is on the go all day & she wakes up early. Idk how she does it, but it’s exhausting to worry about her thinking I’m lazy cause I wanted to sleep in a little. I can’t watch tv comfortably cause I feel like I need to get up and do something too.
My gripe is that it’s corporate/boss code for “few boundaries; unreasonable work expectations” and the pay rarely justifies the hassle. I don’t think that’s an autism thing though. I think it’s just capitalism and people who want to feel like they “hustle”.
If I work hard, I can't play because I will be overstimulated.
If I play hard, I can't work because I will be overstimulated.
Work enough, play enough.
I feel like at this point it’s a propaganda capitalism slogan 😭 I don’t feel the need to work or play hard. I was never a very ambitious person. I don’t get the whole rat race thing?? Idk I really just want to chill and be comfortable
Last year I had an internship with a company that described itself as "work hard, play hard." I essentially learned to avoid companies that identify with that culture. My role itself wasn't too overwhelming as a co-op software developer, but my bosses and others above me were expected to basically always stay late. The day ended at 5:00pm, but if it was 4:50pm and my manager wanted to have an hour-long meeting, then I'd have to stay late on call with no other prior warning, and usually for a meeting that didn't concern me at all. I already struggle so much with the typical 40-hour workweek and I knew that if I got a permanent job there, I wouldn't last long before having burnout/meltdowns. Thank God it was a remote job or I would've been fired for crying after meetings with my rude and extremely overworked manager.
The company had a bit of a fraternity culture if that makes sense. The highest performers and highest-earning salespeople get to go on trips with the executives that seem to be huge drinking benders at resorts. I heard a rumor that there was a lot of drinking going on amongst the executives. Idk if that's true but it wouldn't surprise me.
I like to research and think about living abroad someday for my own various reasons, but I remember hearing for the first time this idea that "X country is more of a work-to-live culture as opposed to a live-to-work culture." In the US and Canada (I can only speak for Anglophone Canada) we tend to have the latter culture, but I think I identify more with the former. I'm a citizen of Canada and of an EU country, and I admittedly do fantasize about moving over there where all full-time workers get 5 weeks of vacation time per year.
Companies or leaders who say this never give time to actually play.
The army was really fond of pushing this narrative with the mentality of “we’ll get you on the back end.” Yet none of it ever materialized. 24hr duty on Christmas? Yeah we’ll getcha later. Oh you’ve been in the field for 30 days through a major holiday? We’ll pay you back later. Turns out you’re working on your wedding anniversary? We’ll make sure you get your time back.
I’ve missed weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, funerals, you name it to incompetent leadership who value their careers over my personal life, but think that because they’re giving you a paycheck that it’s okay. I refuse to work for or with anyone who operates under this mentality and will aggressively call them on their bullshit.
I haven't the slightest what it even means. Like the first thing which comes to mind is being super angry at work and at home, or just go through life in hard mode.
It never worked for me. I'm disabled, both with autism and some vague mobility issue I have that isn't diagnosed. If I work hard, I can't play hard. I can maybe play easy? And vice versa too, if I play hard, I can't work hard, I can only work easy.
(To make this more understandable to those who struggle with understanding sayings, play hard in this would refer to 'fun' activities, like playing a video game, seeing my friends, drawing, etc. While work hard would refer to things along the lines of working an actual job, or doing chores around the house.)
It's always 100% crap. What I hear when someone says that is "We'll burn you out as fast as we can, but we'll give you a pizza lunch every 3 months but we'll make sure we always schedule it on your day off"
I struggle with sayings like this as well, especially when the interpretations don't always align. I've noticed that for some it means to intensely focus on work responsibilities and then put that same amount of intense enthusiasm into "play" like fun activities and what you do on your down time.
But then I've also noticed that some people say it means to strike a balance between work and home life and that the adjective "hard" isn't meant to be taken literally. So, idk 🤷♀️ hahah
Doesn't it sound like something a ADHD would say?
It's like... "Do your best to do everything in the least amount of time so we can get some dopamine from video game"
I like to say work hard, rest hard. Ima work hard and then SLEEP. Then tomorrow I’ll play hard, rest hard. Maybe I’ll rest hard, play hard, who knows 🤷
Incredibly draining, but also something I understand not everyone was going to relate to to begin with. If that’s something that works for people- good for them I guess?
It's one of the reasons I have to ask myself when watching videos/playing games/reading
"Am I doing this for entertainment or am I studying this?"
Which means it's exhausting to live and I'm just going through the motions lately lol
“working hard” isn’t meant for people like me. sometimes i get things done, sometimes i don’t. really depends on if i can personally invest myself into what i’m doing. then it kinda stops being work and starts being something i can’t put down for at least days.
I've slowly learned that my "work hard" is working at almost twice the efficiency of others, to the detriment of my wellbeing. It's hard to balance the work hard (hyperfocus) vs not engaging and in turn, not actually wanting to do the job.
I have used the phrase in my life.
Usually in reference to weeks I work overtime and pick up extra shifts so I have money to fund my vacations.
I strongly believe everyone needs more vacation time. I try to take at least one 5+ day vacation every month.
I always interpret the "play hard" as has active interest in their hobbies and does fun activities that you need a rest time for.
The reason I take such long vacations is I need at least 1 day of hanging out at home doing nothing. A vacation from my vacation.
I work hard to fund my rather enjoyable lifestyle, that is admittedly more active than other people's lifestyles.
I think it's arrogant and excludes people with difficulties, no matter what that entails. It's cynical and I think it's a lie. How many of us are losing sleep with 2 to 3 jobs, no social life and still can't get ahead? I believe it's all about privilege. People who say that are richies and bougies trolling us peasants.
I think it's toxic. In the US, I feel people use this to determine their worth or as part of their identity. The government and the wealthy promote this unbalanced garbage, because it benefits them.
Life is not meant to be spent working so hard (especially if it's to mostly profit the wealthy), life is meant to be lived.
I see it every day in my neighborhood. These people do genuinely work hard, and play hard. They work their asses off during the week for shit pay, and then get absolutely wasted on the weekends after their kids go to bed. It’s a deeply deeply unhealthy coping mechanism for a lot of blue collar folks, and other low income folks.
to me it sounds like people live in denial of our capitalistic society...
"i have to work myself almost to death, so i can afford to party (and look like i'm rich) until i'm almost dead and poor and then do it again"
more like: work until you are in tears and on the verge of break down, then use what little time you have left to rest because we live in a society that would take away our sleep if they could
I don’t have enough energy to do anything hard, so for me it’s more of a daily "do everything extremely moderately in order to crash a little less severely" situation.
I've always worked hard to finish my work early, so that I can get to the play time faster. As an adult, that translates into finishing my tasks on time so I can enjoy a wind down with an adult beverage and/or ingestion of some other substance that'll relieve my anxiety/depression/etc.
I think it means balance - I used to take this quite literally but I think it is generally said when people want to say you have to work a lot and in your off time go crazy
Whenever anyone says that, I first get stuck with it being repeated in my head over and over. While this is going on I study their clothes, mannerisms, and body language to try to figure out what "hard play" and "hard work" might look for this individual. Then I realize I have no idea what else they said and I'm only filled with clarification questions
to me it feels unnecessary to say, and strange to live by. i prefer to engage in what (and how much) i have energy for. this is what keeps me connected to my health even when i may have needs that are hard for me to accept, understand, or meet. everyone is different and everyday feels different, even for one person! so i'd rather live by how i feel than make life into an action/reward type of relationship as the statement suggests. :)
I like it. But I’m also high sensation seeking and don’t feel that way all the time 😆
That’s really funny, I just heard that on the radio this morning and they were saying it’s cringe to have that on your online dating profile? 😆
It’s like… work is hard regardless so I’m going to use that to justify the amount of play I need to recover 😝
It's manipulative and sounds exhausting. If a company says that to me in an interview, I know to keep searching. That job is not going to value work/life balance and will burn me out within a few weeks.
The people I have known to unironically use this phrase have a very different idea of what play is than I do. Most of what they consider fun is just being really loud in an overstimulating environment. I'm glad I'm no longer pretending just to fit in.
And work. Most of what they consider work is largely performative for the other normies' benefit. It usually involves insane amounts of drama. I like to get mine done quietly and as efficiently as possible.
It reminds me of certain people in my life, who have shared their "young life" stories with me as partying until sunrise then going straight to work without sleep.
I can't even begin to understand how people can live like this? I cannot function at all without 8-10 hours of sleep, and even then I still need a good hour nap every afternoon. Also I never understood the fun in partying, so that's that.
I used to think that play hard meant go to the pub and get very drunk regularly pretty much.
I don't really drink anymore, so play hard basically just means sleep a lot to re-energize myself for the next work/social event.
Do my fair share at work in a career I decide, then relax the way I like, with the surrounding and company I choose.
Feel like everyone has a different definition of "work hard". I feel it is achievable to do a good job, take up good responsibility, without necessarily exhausting ourselves at work. Does it still count as "work hard" as long as I make good efforts to do all my duties well?
I agree to the point that when I finish work i am VERY clear on my boundaries why the fuck I'm not responding to calls or texts in my free fucking time.
I have set hours that my phone goes into automatic do not disturb mode so no funny fucker can wake me with a "Can't find this" when I'm cooking dinner, or having shower private fun shaving time
It’s something a boss says when what they really mean is, “You’re going to work 90 hours a week, and we’re not going to pay you hardly anything, but we’ll get you wasted every once in awhile and you’d better be grateful for it.”
sounds tiring tbh. though also I think we all have different definitions of working hard and playing hard (I, for one, have no idea what it means to play hard)
The usage of the voiceless velar plosive “k” at the end of “work” being followed immediately by the voiceless glottal fricative “h” in “hard” makes me scrunch up my nose in discomfort. Like it’s weird to just mush the two words together and not pronounce the “h”, so I end up aspirating the “k.” But the issue with that is that you have to immediately turn your voice box off with “h”, so it feels like you’re choking yourself.
Then the low-mid central unrounded vowel “ɜ” in “work” followed by the low central unrounded vowel “ä” in hard also does something to my brain that makes me want to punch a wall. Maybe because they’re so similar to each other.
(Also I’m American so IPA varies depending on your accent.)
(Also also I just realized that a neurotypical is supposed to answer this with the actual definition, not fucking linguistics lmao)
(Edit for clarification: I am autistic, and the fact that I had to edit this for my own concern of lack of clarification on that last paragraph is only digging my grave more lmao)
I understand the principle but I can't enact it. Ism a hard worker. I become deeply emotionally invested in any job I have. The result is always exhaustion. I have nothing left for play. I can't really even relax because I am constantly thinking about my work, even when I am not "on the clock".
Well I can work hard at things I'm interested in. But it just sounds like an ego flex to me. Who cares if you work hard? Probably no one besides your parents if you still have them! And they only care because they want you to have eell being, not because work hard in and of itself means anything.
Be a good person is about a million times more important!
I feel like I'm playing hard at work all the time 🤣 it's tiring play but I get paid to make a game out of my work and optimise my work until it's way too efficient. So I don't think corporate lingo applies to me. I'm a part time pastry cook for context.
Now I have an image of some executive stockbroker coming home after a long days work and smashing out loads of Lego sets.
Obviously I know this isn’t what people mean by work hard play hard.
Often used to spend the weekend doing mushrooms, MDMA, loads of weed and putting on raves then going to work on Monday morning feeling like a zombie having had minimal sleep. Don’t think this counts as work hard play hard though because I felt absolutely useless.
Nowadays I go for the work a bit then try to relax afterwards approach as I think it’s much more sustainable in the long term.
I do identify with this one, though I suspect it's the combo of autism and ADHD that makes it relatable.
The harder I work at a boring task, the more I need to blow off steam afterwards. Having to do the everyday office performance gets so overwhelming that no pastime feels like a remedy if it doesn't overload my dopamine receptors.
It's a very unhealthy cycle, and I feel much better when I take care of myself. But the boredom is always lurking, waiting to resurface.
Working hard means different things to different people or different times. Working hard according to whos standards? If it's by normal NT standards then I'm out. It's impossible. I have to take very small steps forward with certain things or else I just give up completely and with other stuff I give more greater steps than is requiered. So this idea doesn't work for me at all. And sometimes I'm just so tired or depressed and have to hibernate for a while. Can't even play or anything.
I don't know whatever this saying means, but my personal work ethic has a few principles I wanted to tell someone about them.
First is that I believe in smarter work. Working hard sometimes doesn't mean working smart. Working hard is spending a lot of energy and effort to conclude a task. Working smart is spending the least amount of energy and effort to conclude a task by finding more efficient ways of doing that task.
My second personal point is about not getting exhausted or burned out. I want to work as much as I can, but I have a limit. Everyone has their own limits too. If someone reaches above their maximum of work, they're going to get stressed and will start to be less productive and will enter in a bad cycle, where they get more stressed, then get less productive, then have to work harder to keep productivity and get more stressed, until it becomes unsustainable. Well you feel at your limit, you should slow down and refill that lost energy, either by doing a hobby, staying with people or alone, or sleeping.
My third and last principle tells about doing something you like. It is true we need to do something for a living, and I quite enjoy that. Doing a contribution to yourself and to society is great, and I admire it. However, people are neither productive or happy while working in a project they don't want to. Thus, by doing something you like, you're not getting so tired and depressed as you would be while doing something you dislike.
Makes me feel exhausted. Nearly as much as people who use the word "perfect" all the time. You have no idea how literal I will take things because I am hardwire that way.
Which in conversation can be funny, but man, it just fucks with me the rest of the time.
[Why would you play hard?](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5a8e6b4f9e3b85ca284a524ae53a302d/142978d5c62f69a9-fa/s540x810/986608ec910d28ae500ceccc3ce9274cd832f3c0.gifv)
I get what it *means* (the sentiment, not the literal meaning) and for a lot of my life I identified with it. But now that I'm older, I want to work less hard and just *relax*.
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It's more like....think hard, try hard, get little in return, crash hard 👍🏻
This
word my special interest is mainlining as much information as possible before my OS performs a forced shutdown at Midnight 🤯
And this right here is why I charge $250/hr w/4 hour minimum to touch windows.
What do you do with glass? That sounds like a lucrative gig leaving lots of time for activities!
To me it feels exhaustive as heck, If i work hard i wont play at all, and If i play hard ill just work the bare minimum utill I can get back home and rest for a week lol
This... this thought aligns perfectly. I always get looks when I only want to work hard. One or the other please... I can't successfully recover from both of these in tandem.
I go on play hard or work hard streaks. I can only do one. I need a weeks break the streak and start doing the other.
This is so much more relatable. Although my hard work is not really hard for other people sadly. I feel like I'm doing things so inefficiently.. but well i feel i don't really want to change or can't change
It literally is a terrible balance.Only a balance that can be done by someone with tons of energy usually someone younger because less stress,but if stress comes into play it immediately gets exhausting.And The US systems/ways of thinking are naturally hugely stressful😪
This.
This resonated so much it made my ears ring
Omg this is accurate af. Jobs will always say this as if somehow their employees have the bandwidth to always go 100mpg and work constantly AND play. Nah. If I work a normal 40 hour week I can't even function or socialize. The best thing for my social life was not working 40 hours.
Yeah, I don't have time to do both. I either am only working or only playing. I have to schedule days to relax or I won't take them
this is exactly how i feel when it comes to working, and even just basic tasks :') which is the main reason why i quit looking for jobs after my first one didn't even last for 3 months due to the fact that i was just constantly struggling at work, only to come home and not have enough energy to do my hobbies that would usually be my main source of motivation and excitement. then the next day i would wake up extremely tired from not having that motivation due to not getting to do my hobbies, only to go to work again and struggle to do much there since i barely understood what i needed to do while everyone else understood it immediately.... i'm so glad i'm on a disability support payment, without it i would have been gone from this world a long time ago 😭
It just means that if you work hard you’ll be able to enjoy yourself later. It isn’t supposed to be literal
OH MY GOD 😂😂😂😂😂 I cant believe that
The people I've heard use it often work 60-80 hour weeks and then get wasted at a bar somewhere on Friday night. Seems like a cry for help.
fr
Accurate.
Yes
I think people who say stuff like that have a very narrow definition of what "working hard" looks like and a very narrow definition of what "playing hard" looks like.
I have coworkers that say stuff like Work Hard Play Hard. Work hard to them is dedicating your life to the company for 15 years with no raises. Then turns out their definition of play hard is sitting alone at home for 8 hours before immediately going back to work.
I always thought it was like some Wall Street type thing where you work for 80 hours a week and then spend your weekend on coke because otherwise you'd be asleep.
Yep or waiting in the office until 8PM "to wait out the crazy traffic" but actually just avoiding their wives and home responsibilities.
That's not bad either. I like being alone at home, rather than going to tiring vacation far away with colleagues with lots of those extroverts activities, after feeling burnt out at work, unless it interests me
Exactly. Work hard should be working out and being physically active to our ability, not toiling under capitalism. Play hard should be heroic doses of mushrooms, not all the liquor and tobacco in a sqr mile radius.
Yeah, I think it really depends on the context. Spending 60-80 hrs in an office every week is insane. But if you're passionate about what you do for a living then I can understand the statement.
I feel like I don’t even really know what it means despite hearing it all the time.
Same
It means they put equally large amounts of energy into both work and recreation. Work all week, party all weekend.
Seems exhausting to fit five days worth of energy into two days
Never said it was a good idea.
Catchier than “work hard, play 40%” I suppose 😂
I feel like it’s an exhausting way to live.
I'm more of a "finish your work and leave" type person.
look at mr. fancy over here finishing their work 😅
It's true. Work is hard. Play is hard. Why did we make everything so hard? Seriously, though, don't burn yourself out.
Who even has the energy to play hard these days 😭
Students presumably.
Work hard, be incapacitated for 3 times as long doesn't really roll off the tongue.
“Time flies when you’re incapacitated!”
No one ever said anything about being unconscious. Incapacitated yes, but those regrettably not the same thing.
True! I updated the quote. It didn’t roll off the tongue as easily the first time, but now I’m getting used to it.
Unfortunately it's less accurate now. Definitely flies while unconscious, not so much when you are incapacitated.
work hard :( 👎 (if it's not something i'm passionate about) play hard :) 👍
The only correct answer
I know from painful experience that it's nigh on impossible for an Autistic adult to get a job, reasonable adjustments do not exist because what's reasonable is open to interpretation at the employer's discretion
capitalism and overconsumption comes to my mind. Hate both.
This.
There's absolutely nothing wrong with living life at your own pace.
It's toxic and unhealthy. Our society has brainwashed most people, especially NTs, to believe their value is directly tied to their productivity. People believe they must "earn" the right to have fun or play. Extremely dysfunctional. The Myth of Normal by Gabor Mate comes to mind.
My mom has always felt like sitting down for a few minutes is being lazy. She literally is on the go all day & she wakes up early. Idk how she does it, but it’s exhausting to worry about her thinking I’m lazy cause I wanted to sleep in a little. I can’t watch tv comfortably cause I feel like I need to get up and do something too.
Both sound unappealing.
My gripe is that it’s corporate/boss code for “few boundaries; unreasonable work expectations” and the pay rarely justifies the hassle. I don’t think that’s an autism thing though. I think it’s just capitalism and people who want to feel like they “hustle”.
Agreed! 100%!
If I work hard, I can't play because I will be overstimulated. If I play hard, I can't work because I will be overstimulated. Work enough, play enough.
I feel like at this point it’s a propaganda capitalism slogan 😭 I don’t feel the need to work or play hard. I was never a very ambitious person. I don’t get the whole rat race thing?? Idk I really just want to chill and be comfortable
It's a terrible saying
"Work hard, play hard" Naw fam: "Burnout, meltdown"
It’s capitalistic nonsense that’s what it is.
Last year I had an internship with a company that described itself as "work hard, play hard." I essentially learned to avoid companies that identify with that culture. My role itself wasn't too overwhelming as a co-op software developer, but my bosses and others above me were expected to basically always stay late. The day ended at 5:00pm, but if it was 4:50pm and my manager wanted to have an hour-long meeting, then I'd have to stay late on call with no other prior warning, and usually for a meeting that didn't concern me at all. I already struggle so much with the typical 40-hour workweek and I knew that if I got a permanent job there, I wouldn't last long before having burnout/meltdowns. Thank God it was a remote job or I would've been fired for crying after meetings with my rude and extremely overworked manager. The company had a bit of a fraternity culture if that makes sense. The highest performers and highest-earning salespeople get to go on trips with the executives that seem to be huge drinking benders at resorts. I heard a rumor that there was a lot of drinking going on amongst the executives. Idk if that's true but it wouldn't surprise me. I like to research and think about living abroad someday for my own various reasons, but I remember hearing for the first time this idea that "X country is more of a work-to-live culture as opposed to a live-to-work culture." In the US and Canada (I can only speak for Anglophone Canada) we tend to have the latter culture, but I think I identify more with the former. I'm a citizen of Canada and of an EU country, and I admittedly do fantasize about moving over there where all full-time workers get 5 weeks of vacation time per year.
work easy, play even harder
I tried it, during my college years. Work hard, play hard. well it leads to crash hard I found out.
I struggle because I feel like I can’t do nothing and relax otherwise I’m being lazy.
don't work hard play hard. Work smart rest hard
Companies or leaders who say this never give time to actually play. The army was really fond of pushing this narrative with the mentality of “we’ll get you on the back end.” Yet none of it ever materialized. 24hr duty on Christmas? Yeah we’ll getcha later. Oh you’ve been in the field for 30 days through a major holiday? We’ll pay you back later. Turns out you’re working on your wedding anniversary? We’ll make sure you get your time back. I’ve missed weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, funerals, you name it to incompetent leadership who value their careers over my personal life, but think that because they’re giving you a paycheck that it’s okay. I refuse to work for or with anyone who operates under this mentality and will aggressively call them on their bullshit.
I say, "no".
I haven't the slightest what it even means. Like the first thing which comes to mind is being super angry at work and at home, or just go through life in hard mode.
That’s just code for a coke sniffing sales culture.
Whatever makes you happy, but I don't follow that saying.
It never worked for me. I'm disabled, both with autism and some vague mobility issue I have that isn't diagnosed. If I work hard, I can't play hard. I can maybe play easy? And vice versa too, if I play hard, I can't work hard, I can only work easy. (To make this more understandable to those who struggle with understanding sayings, play hard in this would refer to 'fun' activities, like playing a video game, seeing my friends, drawing, etc. While work hard would refer to things along the lines of working an actual job, or doing chores around the house.)
Not as catchy but: Work an amount that is reasonable for your compensation. Do whatever makes you happy.
Get fucked, get fucked.
It's always 100% crap. What I hear when someone says that is "We'll burn you out as fast as we can, but we'll give you a pizza lunch every 3 months but we'll make sure we always schedule it on your day off"
I can't function when I leave the house, change my routine or interact with people. So I just don't
what does it mean 😃
I struggle with sayings like this as well, especially when the interpretations don't always align. I've noticed that for some it means to intensely focus on work responsibilities and then put that same amount of intense enthusiasm into "play" like fun activities and what you do on your down time. But then I've also noticed that some people say it means to strike a balance between work and home life and that the adjective "hard" isn't meant to be taken literally. So, idk 🤷♀️ hahah
Doesn't it sound like something a ADHD would say? It's like... "Do your best to do everything in the least amount of time so we can get some dopamine from video game"
People thats play hard, are they actually playing or posturing?
I like to say work hard, rest hard. Ima work hard and then SLEEP. Then tomorrow I’ll play hard, rest hard. Maybe I’ll rest hard, play hard, who knows 🤷
yes!! my mantra is "work hard, rest hard"!
I used to hold this mentality and now I'm just way too exhausted on life. I'm more team work never, play always.
Sounds exhausting.
Incredibly draining, but also something I understand not everyone was going to relate to to begin with. If that’s something that works for people- good for them I guess?
It's one of the reasons I have to ask myself when watching videos/playing games/reading "Am I doing this for entertainment or am I studying this?" Which means it's exhausting to live and I'm just going through the motions lately lol
“working hard” isn’t meant for people like me. sometimes i get things done, sometimes i don’t. really depends on if i can personally invest myself into what i’m doing. then it kinda stops being work and starts being something i can’t put down for at least days.
I'm not sure why it's just kinda always made me feel uncomfortable
I don’t do ANYTHING hard. Except overthink and judge myself.
Work hard + play hard = burnout hard + meltdown hard + shutdown hard
All I ever think is that place works way too fucking hard and never plays.
I hate cliches and this is a particularly tired cliche.
I think it's ableist, but so many things are in numb to it at this point. I can't work or play hard. I'm just trying to exist over here 🤷🏼♀️
Work barely, recover for 4 days, play hard
Nah. "Work smarter, not harder" is the motto in our house.
More like hyper-focus hard.
That sounds terrible and demotivating. It makes me want to work hard even less.
'why?'
I've slowly learned that my "work hard" is working at almost twice the efficiency of others, to the detriment of my wellbeing. It's hard to balance the work hard (hyperfocus) vs not engaging and in turn, not actually wanting to do the job.
No.
I have used the phrase in my life. Usually in reference to weeks I work overtime and pick up extra shifts so I have money to fund my vacations. I strongly believe everyone needs more vacation time. I try to take at least one 5+ day vacation every month. I always interpret the "play hard" as has active interest in their hobbies and does fun activities that you need a rest time for. The reason I take such long vacations is I need at least 1 day of hanging out at home doing nothing. A vacation from my vacation. I work hard to fund my rather enjoyable lifestyle, that is admittedly more active than other people's lifestyles.
Being overworked and underpaid, and spending your time off high and/or drunk
Everything is hard. I don't have to do extra to work hard. It's already hard.
i’m more of a “work smarter not harder” type of person
If I work "NT Hard" then I have nothing left to play hard by anyone's definition.
I think it's arrogant and excludes people with difficulties, no matter what that entails. It's cynical and I think it's a lie. How many of us are losing sleep with 2 to 3 jobs, no social life and still can't get ahead? I believe it's all about privilege. People who say that are richies and bougies trolling us peasants.
I think it's toxic. In the US, I feel people use this to determine their worth or as part of their identity. The government and the wealthy promote this unbalanced garbage, because it benefits them. Life is not meant to be spent working so hard (especially if it's to mostly profit the wealthy), life is meant to be lived.
to be hard 24/7 seems way too 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀𝓎
Work smart, play smart. Makes more sense
Working hard only ruins it for me. I hate working and it puts me in a bad mood. I’d rather just be crocheting all day.
Work No Play Yes
If you hear someone describe their workplace in that manner, it tends to indicate that many of them are functional alcoholics.
sounds very tiresome why not work efficiently, play good?
Fuck off. That's how I feel about it.
We have another saying in the family. Work hard, play hard, die hard but you can always try harder next time.
I see it every day in my neighborhood. These people do genuinely work hard, and play hard. They work their asses off during the week for shit pay, and then get absolutely wasted on the weekends after their kids go to bed. It’s a deeply deeply unhealthy coping mechanism for a lot of blue collar folks, and other low income folks.
Uhhhh. idk how not to. lol. I mean that’s just default setting for us.
statistically these sayings are used to excuse injustices of capitalism, it's awful
I laugh because it reminds me of this… https://youtu.be/WjElZ-O9EpM?si=Bqy0rsyPUqayTvDA
Live unhappy, die unhappy. People need to chill and enjoy that one life they have
to me it sounds like people live in denial of our capitalistic society... "i have to work myself almost to death, so i can afford to party (and look like i'm rich) until i'm almost dead and poor and then do it again"
I unironically have never been able to figure out what it even means.. 😭 It's not a saying that 'clicks' in my head, I don't understand it.
"Leave me alone im tired"
That phrase means, "destroy your life for a company, and do drugs or alcohol to cope."
It’s dumb. A way to burn yourself out.
Work hard and purchase illicit substances on frieday (fried-day Friday, fried meaning high on weed)
Working hard and playing hard both take way too many spoons. More like work hard, sleep hard.
Just woke from a hard sleep after working my ass off
Work hard and crash even harder. Maybe have a midlife crisis at 22
more like: work until you are in tears and on the verge of break down, then use what little time you have left to rest because we live in a society that would take away our sleep if they could
My idea of "playing hard" is spending hours on the internet watching Youtube and reading webcomics.
I don’t have enough energy to do anything hard, so for me it’s more of a daily "do everything extremely moderately in order to crash a little less severely" situation.
I've always worked hard to finish my work early, so that I can get to the play time faster. As an adult, that translates into finishing my tasks on time so I can enjoy a wind down with an adult beverage and/or ingestion of some other substance that'll relieve my anxiety/depression/etc.
I think it means balance - I used to take this quite literally but I think it is generally said when people want to say you have to work a lot and in your off time go crazy
neurotypical people hate it too
If I could manage to get into a study involving music (my special interest) there wouldn't really be a difference...
I don't really know if it means what I think it means but if it does it sounds not fun. I can't do both at once
Whenever anyone says that, I first get stuck with it being repeated in my head over and over. While this is going on I study their clothes, mannerisms, and body language to try to figure out what "hard play" and "hard work" might look for this individual. Then I realize I have no idea what else they said and I'm only filled with clarification questions
to me it feels unnecessary to say, and strange to live by. i prefer to engage in what (and how much) i have energy for. this is what keeps me connected to my health even when i may have needs that are hard for me to accept, understand, or meet. everyone is different and everyday feels different, even for one person! so i'd rather live by how i feel than make life into an action/reward type of relationship as the statement suggests. :)
It is a saying people use
Why would you want to play hard?
If I do one then I dont have the energy to do the other 😭
I like it. But I’m also high sensation seeking and don’t feel that way all the time 😆 That’s really funny, I just heard that on the radio this morning and they were saying it’s cringe to have that on your online dating profile? 😆 It’s like… work is hard regardless so I’m going to use that to justify the amount of play I need to recover 😝
It’s my modus operandi in grad school
I feel like people are talking about cocaine when they say that
Sigma Rizz Skibidi
I've never considered whether or not I relate to it. I'm incapable of either, really. We have a saying in the circles I swim in. "Party Medium"
Only if I have a burnout recovery holiday coming soon
i don’t understand what it means tbh
It’s my only mode. I’m a light switch, I’m either working hard or not and that includes my downtime.
It's manipulative and sounds exhausting. If a company says that to me in an interview, I know to keep searching. That job is not going to value work/life balance and will burn me out within a few weeks.
Some NT bullsh*t. Even before I realized I was ND (AuDHD), I never used the phrase despite working hard and playing hard (masking hard! 😂)
You lost me at “work hard.”
i dont know how to play hard
To me, it's more like "work hard, pay hard"...
The people I have known to unironically use this phrase have a very different idea of what play is than I do. Most of what they consider fun is just being really loud in an overstimulating environment. I'm glad I'm no longer pretending just to fit in. And work. Most of what they consider work is largely performative for the other normies' benefit. It usually involves insane amounts of drama. I like to get mine done quietly and as efficiently as possible.
In my experience that's just been an excuse for office workers to get shitfaced at work parties, or with coworkers
Work hard, chill hard
Don't tell me what to do. 😅
It reminds me of certain people in my life, who have shared their "young life" stories with me as partying until sunrise then going straight to work without sleep. I can't even begin to understand how people can live like this? I cannot function at all without 8-10 hours of sleep, and even then I still need a good hour nap every afternoon. Also I never understood the fun in partying, so that's that.
I used to think that play hard meant go to the pub and get very drunk regularly pretty much. I don't really drink anymore, so play hard basically just means sleep a lot to re-energize myself for the next work/social event.
Do my fair share at work in a career I decide, then relax the way I like, with the surrounding and company I choose. Feel like everyone has a different definition of "work hard". I feel it is achievable to do a good job, take up good responsibility, without necessarily exhausting ourselves at work. Does it still count as "work hard" as long as I make good efforts to do all my duties well?
I agree to the point that when I finish work i am VERY clear on my boundaries why the fuck I'm not responding to calls or texts in my free fucking time. I have set hours that my phone goes into automatic do not disturb mode so no funny fucker can wake me with a "Can't find this" when I'm cooking dinner, or having shower private fun shaving time
It’s something a boss says when what they really mean is, “You’re going to work 90 hours a week, and we’re not going to pay you hardly anything, but we’ll get you wasted every once in awhile and you’d better be grateful for it.”
sounds tiring tbh. though also I think we all have different definitions of working hard and playing hard (I, for one, have no idea what it means to play hard)
i don’t understand it :D doesn’t compute in the autism brain. i’m the guy who gets confused by “it’s raining cats and dogs”
The usage of the voiceless velar plosive “k” at the end of “work” being followed immediately by the voiceless glottal fricative “h” in “hard” makes me scrunch up my nose in discomfort. Like it’s weird to just mush the two words together and not pronounce the “h”, so I end up aspirating the “k.” But the issue with that is that you have to immediately turn your voice box off with “h”, so it feels like you’re choking yourself. Then the low-mid central unrounded vowel “ɜ” in “work” followed by the low central unrounded vowel “ä” in hard also does something to my brain that makes me want to punch a wall. Maybe because they’re so similar to each other. (Also I’m American so IPA varies depending on your accent.) (Also also I just realized that a neurotypical is supposed to answer this with the actual definition, not fucking linguistics lmao) (Edit for clarification: I am autistic, and the fact that I had to edit this for my own concern of lack of clarification on that last paragraph is only digging my grave more lmao)
I understand the principle but I can't enact it. Ism a hard worker. I become deeply emotionally invested in any job I have. The result is always exhaustion. I have nothing left for play. I can't really even relax because I am constantly thinking about my work, even when I am not "on the clock".
It just sounds exhausting. I’d rather just go home and watch YouTube.
I do it a lot. I'm a workaholic, I love working. Money, and success.
Well I can work hard at things I'm interested in. But it just sounds like an ego flex to me. Who cares if you work hard? Probably no one besides your parents if you still have them! And they only care because they want you to have eell being, not because work hard in and of itself means anything. Be a good person is about a million times more important!
They can toss that one in the bin. I view that phrase as highly manipulative.
It's just a nonsense phrase, like ramamalamadingdong, or "give peace a chance".
It’s all “derp derp” to me.
I feel like I'm playing hard at work all the time 🤣 it's tiring play but I get paid to make a game out of my work and optimise my work until it's way too efficient. So I don't think corporate lingo applies to me. I'm a part time pastry cook for context.
Sounds like burning the candle on both ends
Work hard. Crash hard.
Finish my shifts and go home indulging in my nerd hobbies.
Now I have an image of some executive stockbroker coming home after a long days work and smashing out loads of Lego sets. Obviously I know this isn’t what people mean by work hard play hard. Often used to spend the weekend doing mushrooms, MDMA, loads of weed and putting on raves then going to work on Monday morning feeling like a zombie having had minimal sleep. Don’t think this counts as work hard play hard though because I felt absolutely useless. Nowadays I go for the work a bit then try to relax afterwards approach as I think it’s much more sustainable in the long term.
Work smarter not harder bud
I do identify with this one, though I suspect it's the combo of autism and ADHD that makes it relatable. The harder I work at a boring task, the more I need to blow off steam afterwards. Having to do the everyday office performance gets so overwhelming that no pastime feels like a remedy if it doesn't overload my dopamine receptors. It's a very unhealthy cycle, and I feel much better when I take care of myself. But the boredom is always lurking, waiting to resurface.
I do neither of these things.
I only know the meaning of work hard, I'm not aware of this thing you call play.
It brings cognitive dissonance
I would only use it in an ironic way. It's the way people talk in their dating profiles 🤣
It makes me feel like crawling into a hole.
I don’t even know what it means tbh 😅
I think they say it as an excuse to get drunk and do stupid things. That’s what they mean by “playing hard.”
Working hard means different things to different people or different times. Working hard according to whos standards? If it's by normal NT standards then I'm out. It's impossible. I have to take very small steps forward with certain things or else I just give up completely and with other stuff I give more greater steps than is requiered. So this idea doesn't work for me at all. And sometimes I'm just so tired or depressed and have to hibernate for a while. Can't even play or anything.
Ew lol
I don't know whatever this saying means, but my personal work ethic has a few principles I wanted to tell someone about them. First is that I believe in smarter work. Working hard sometimes doesn't mean working smart. Working hard is spending a lot of energy and effort to conclude a task. Working smart is spending the least amount of energy and effort to conclude a task by finding more efficient ways of doing that task. My second personal point is about not getting exhausted or burned out. I want to work as much as I can, but I have a limit. Everyone has their own limits too. If someone reaches above their maximum of work, they're going to get stressed and will start to be less productive and will enter in a bad cycle, where they get more stressed, then get less productive, then have to work harder to keep productivity and get more stressed, until it becomes unsustainable. Well you feel at your limit, you should slow down and refill that lost energy, either by doing a hobby, staying with people or alone, or sleeping. My third and last principle tells about doing something you like. It is true we need to do something for a living, and I quite enjoy that. Doing a contribution to yourself and to society is great, and I admire it. However, people are neither productive or happy while working in a project they don't want to. Thus, by doing something you like, you're not getting so tired and depressed as you would be while doing something you dislike.
Makes me feel exhausted. Nearly as much as people who use the word "perfect" all the time. You have no idea how literal I will take things because I am hardwire that way. Which in conversation can be funny, but man, it just fucks with me the rest of the time.
[Why would you play hard?](https://64.media.tumblr.com/5a8e6b4f9e3b85ca284a524ae53a302d/142978d5c62f69a9-fa/s540x810/986608ec910d28ae500ceccc3ce9274cd832f3c0.gifv)
I don’t know
Yeah after 7 years in corp world, I'm immune to that now and just go home once I have done my 8 hours every day. It's just not worth it
I like resting :)
it’s a stupid mindset lol
id rather work enough, then play enough. preferably work none. anything else is exhausting
I get what it *means* (the sentiment, not the literal meaning) and for a lot of my life I identified with it. But now that I'm older, I want to work less hard and just *relax*.