The development of Google News and Gmail can be attributed to "Google’s 20 percent time" in which Google employees are allotted 20 percent of their time per week to veer from their regular work to instead pursue their own side projects geared towards benefitting Google. According to Google Founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, this form of freedom is said to instill creativity and innovation in employees. Though the 20 percent time still exists, not many employees use it. My guess is that the employees don’t want to stop working on their regularly assigned projects in fear of falling behind. However, the 20 percent time is a fantastic idea and Google employees are silly not to capitalize on it. I believe that this idea can and should be applied to both the school and work day.

For children, having time for play is vital. Studies have shown that a lack of play is strongly correlated to increased depression and anxiety. Not only that, but social skills, health, and creative thinking also suffer from a lack of play time. In the 1950's, students had two hours throughout the school day allotted for playing. Over time, this amount has, unfortunately, declined. The average school day is seven hours long, and going off of the 20 percent time idea, students should have one to two hours of the school day devoted to playing. Of course there is gym class, but many schools do not have gym every day. There’s also recess, but it’s only 20 to 30 minutes long. Students need unstructured free time because this allows them to have control. They can learn to solve problems on their own, experience joy, be active, cooperate with their peers, and develop their creativity; students will be able to use their imagination. Kids will actually be able to act like kids.

However, adults need play time too. The average 9 to 5 work day is exhausting and draining—both mentally and physically. Employees are granted one hour lunch breaks which is nice, but not enough. When employees are given free time, they have autonomy. They are given choice. Some may continue to work while others will choose to relax, read, work out, sleep, draw, dance, sing, whatever they want. Regarding sleep, Google encourages nap rooms and has implemented them into their employees’ work day, which is something else that other companies should think about. Simply put, people cannot be productive when they are tired. When it all comes down to it, we are humans and not robots. Therefore granting free time is necessary. Besides breaking up the monotony of the day, having free time will allow employees to think. They’ll have time to breathe and potentially focus on their own interests. Not only will it reduce stress, but it will also give employees a chance to walk away from their work and look at it again with fresh eyes. Ultimately, free time will create happy employees, and having happy employees will result in a more efficient company. Although this idea may not be suitable for all job types, it is something that should definitely be considered. If executed properly, with the 20 percent time, everyone will benefit.