I’m a millennial manager.
Of course, I don’t have a life outside of work.
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But I do want to have a “life”.
One day, I was stressed out, so I decided to ask my boss for help.
He suggested I observe and learn from the Gen Zs.
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The journey for a “life”: Asking Gen Zs
I wasn’t so sure about the suggestion, but I thought there would be some merit to it since Gen Zs are known to be, or at least self-proclaimed, advocates for “work-life balance”.
So, I set out to ask them what they usually do to unwind from work.
It’s a long process. tl;dr, I found out it wasn’t much different from what I would have done when I was younger.
The staples were hanging out with friends, going out on dates, going on food tours, etc. At home, it was video games, dramas, and books/ web novels.
Another thing in common was to binge on comfort food while you binge-watch or binge-read.
Some also kindly explained that it’s to just “not think” about work or anything in general and follow your heart to do whatever you want.
It sounds simple enough that I was very optimistic about finding “life”.
The only issue was I was not so sure if any of their plans were enough for me.
The origin story of “brain rot”
Hence, I decided to continue observing the Gen Zs in their natural habitat.
I don’t think I would get an invite to their rooms to see them unwind, so I decided to see if I could pick anything up from their daily banter.
Then I came across this term called “brain rot”.
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I thought it was a brilliant concept. I did not fully understand it, but I assumed what it meant, and it seems like the solution is clear — just not think about it and follow whatever they do.
My plan now? If one of Gen Z’s whims doesn’t seem to be enough, I try many Gen Z whims together.
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I’m a genius.
“The Plan”
I chose the at-home activities because it’s simpler to execute.
To make sure the whole thing would work, I consolidated their suggestions and made a list:
Things to do:
- Have a nice dinner
- Binge-watch shows (on the bed) while snacking
- Binge-read books (on the bed) while snacking
- Play video games
- Doom-scroll TikTok (on the bed)
- Sleep
Things to eat/drink:
- Fried rice
- Bubble tea
- Dumplings
- Popcorn
- Alcohol
So, on the fateful day, I went home on time to execute “The Plan”.
Just to explain why I got dumplings, it’s because a Gen Z colleague told me it had to be something you have the “mood” for, and it was dumplings for me.
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Preparation works
As there’s quite a bit of food involved, I decided to order everything altogether, beforehand.
It’s not easy to physically go buy all these different things alone — it’s almost impossible to find a single physical location that can fulfil every Gen Z’s whims — so I decided to get delivery instead.
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The delivery fee was manageable too after discounts.
It’s not easy to satisfy every whim, but fortunately, things that were not available from F&B outlets, like frozen finger food and snacks, I managed to find them on pandamart via the foodpanda app within an hour of my cravings.
Step 1: Have a nice dinner
This wasn’t so tough. Although “prawn fried rice with asparagus” with bubble tea was oddly specific, I managed to find it on foodpanda, all thanks to its well-ranged extensive choices.
Even though dinner was great, I was right that it wasn’t enough to “unwind”.
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I couldn’t stop thinking about all the work that was left to be done and ended up scrolling through my work email while I was eating.
Step 2: Play Gen Z video games
I asked the Gen Z colleague who suggested this, and he told me to try out Valorant, which I was told is a Gen Z version of Counter-Strike.
It’s a great game, but it ended up being a bit stressful.
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Step 2b: Eat supper while playing
This wasn’t part of the initial plan.
But I was told that to get myself into the “mood” and maybe play better, I should binge on fast food while I play.
So I whipped out my phone to order from MOS Burger & Cafe before going for the next round.
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I felt a lot better after eating supper, although I don’t see a noticeable improvement in the game.
After a while, I decided to move on.
Mid-plan review
At this point, I felt like I needed to do more to “unwind”.
Then I remembered that I should remember the spirit of “brain rot”.
Since the night is not young anymore, why not just do everything else together?
Great plan!
Step 3: Do everything on the bed with food
My Gen Z colleagues did not have a consensus on whether they do things like watching shows and reading on the bed and whether they do it with food. Some do both. But for simplicity’s sake, I’ll just do both.
Again on the advice of Gen Z colleagues, I needed a laptop stand.
I didn’t exactly have one, so I improvised a bit.
Here’s how it looks:
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Of course, it’s not going to be possible (or is it?) to watch shows, read a book and doom-scroll TikTok at the same time, but the fact that you feel like you’re doing so many things to unwind feels oddly satisfying.
I did them one by one, whenever I felt like it, at my own whim, and later, I fell asleep with a filled belly and empty mind, satisfied that I had “unwound”.
The next day
I didn’t keep track of what time I fell asleep, but I woke up the next morning in a daze and was almost late for work.
But I felt refreshed.
I told my Gen Z colleagues it felt good to “brain rot”.
I was a little bit shocked when they told me it was not a Gen Z concept.
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Oh well, at least it worked.
My takeaway?
Will do it again, anytime.
If you’re still on the fence about Gen Alpha Gen Z’s way of living, why not have a go at it?
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The writer of this sponsored article by foodpanda appreciates the help it gave to satisfy every whim of Gen Zs and Gen-Z-aspiring Millennials.
Top image via Canva & Mothership