All work and no play makes jack a dull boy, well I am pretty sure we have heard this adge one time or the other. All of us set goals in our lives and put in the required industrious and conscientious hard work towards achieving them. When you tend to focus solely on work and recreation is relegated to some sort of low priority activity, then problems start cropping in and if this goes on for a while the person is rendered dull, distant and unsociable.
The Human Mind
When you closely follow the workings of the human mind, you would be truly amazed at the seemingly limitless capacity of the brain to continue working for long hours at a stretch. However as it happens with any machine, wear and tear crops in with sustained usage and there is a very real possibility of a burn out. At the extreme end of the spectrum is the occupational burnout characterized by a persistent and nagging feeling of ineffectiveness, lack of enthusiasm and motivation with an added dimension of cynicism and frustration cropping in leading to a reduced efficacy at the workplace.
Rejuvenation is a Must
It goes without saying proper relaxation is an absolute must to prevent the mind from getting overtaxed and moving towards undesired consequences. It is common knowledge that a relaxed mind is a rejuvenated one. Recreation goes ahead to revitalize the inborn abilities of the mind. A balanced approached is required to keep the mind primed up in top working condition at all given times. To sum up, work without recreation does contribute in no small measure to make jack a dull boy.
A Fine Balance
This is one end of the spectrum, when we look at the other end of the spectrum it is not very difficult to see that people play all the time at work, that is. Maybe to some it may appear to be an exaggeration or partially correct statement, there is certainly an iota of truth in it. People at workplace do agree that all play and no work is not going to take anybody anywhere. We need to strike a fine balance to be in sync with organizational, personal and professional goals.
The Thumb Rule
We need to lay down certain guidelines, personal code of conduct to be really effective at work. Something as simple as really working all time you work, well it really works. This effectively 
means giving your undivided attention to the task in hand. There are distractions galore, refrain from taking care of personal business, or checking emails every five minutes or so.
Final Words
You would be tempted to exchange notes with your friends, they may want to talk to you while your priority is to focus on something important at the moment. Do let them know politely that you would surely love to interact, however there is some important business you need to address at the moment, and get back to work. The interaction can always wait for some other time, the weekend perhaps. When you work a little harder, stay back a little longer and pick up the pace and move faster without wasting any time, results would follow suit and you would happily say work hard and party harder is my credo from now on.
