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Every Sunday I bring you an article, an interesting quote that has been on my mind, and a journal prompt, all related to working and living better.

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The Power ⚡️ Of Play: How To Trade Burnout For Fun🎈

Have you ever looked at a child playing and envied their uninhibited joy? Now, imagine bringing that joy to your work life.

If you’re reading this, odds are that you’ve had some success in your career, but are no longer enjoying your work. You are likely exploring how you might improve your work life.

It’s way too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind of work. Many of us have the following experience of work; you start your day with great intentions, but your pile of tasks grows rather than shrinks. It feels like you spent most of your day in never-ending meetings, and several deadlines are rapidly approaching. You leave work feeling drained and are unsure if you if you accomplished anything of real value.

I’m sure that’s not the way you envisioned yourself spending your time at work when you started out in your field, but this is the reality for most people today.

Tim Ferriss, a renowned author and podcaster, poses a thought-provoking question: “What would this look like if it were easy?”. He suggests that simplicity often paves the path to progress. While this is an interesting question to reflect on, I suggest putting a slightly different spin on the question relating to your work:

“What would this look like if it was play?”

Instead of viewing your work as an endless stream of tasks and meetings, consider how you might transform your work into play.

The Concept of Play

At its core, play is about exploration, creativity, and joy. It’s what we did as children when we transformed cardboard boxes into castles and saw the world as our playground. We felt free to imagine, to explore, and to consider alternatives.

But as we grew up and took on increasing levels of responsibility, most of us started taking ourselves and our work too seriously; we lost our sense of play.

Our brains always seek to optimize, to be more efficient. However, that efficiency comes at a cost. The very habits and routines that led to our past success now hold us back. Some of the best work and innovations emerge when someone allows themselves the freedom to play with their work. Not only does play allow great work to emerge, it also helps you enjoy your work.

How to Transform Work into Play

There are several approaches you can use to bring more play into your work.

Gamification. This trend involves transforming tasks into challenges or games. Consider setting up a point system for your tasks, or challenge a colleague to a friendly competition.
Creative expression. Rather than just rushing through a task, approach it like an artist approaches a canvas. How might you put your own interesting twist on the task? What might “wow” people?
Collaborative exploration. Foster a team environment where brainstorming feels more like a group of friends sharing wild ideas than a formal meeting. Encourage off-the-wall ideas and don’t filter out the “ones that can’t work”; the truly brilliant ideas are often “second cousins” of these crazy ideas.
Shift perspective. Instead of thinking, “I have to do this,” think, “I get to do this.” This simple shift turns an obligation into an opportunity for you to shine. This perspective shift works well for people like me, those with the tendency to push back against being told what to do and how to do it.
Take breaks. It’s well-documented that taking periodic breaks can boost productivity. To get the most out of them, don’t scroll on social media! Instead, use these breaks as opportunities for short, playful activities. Take a quick walk, do some jumping jacks, sketch a doodle, or even play a brief game. Stepping away from your desk and your work frees your mind up to solve problems.

Why Play Matters

Reframing work as play doesn’t just make the day more enjoyable; it can lead to increased productivity and genuine innovation. When you have a rigid, work-focused mindset, you are less likely to come up with creative solutions to challenging problems. Switching to a play-based mindset provides your mind with the freedom required to foster new ideas, solutions, and perspectives.

In an age where burnout is increasingly common, integrating elements of play into our work lives can act as a buffer. It can reduce stress, increase engagement, and enhance overall work satisfaction.

In Conclusion

Embracing play isn’t about shirking responsibility or not taking our jobs seriously. Instead, it’s about bringing a sense of joy, curiosity, and openness to our professional lives. Bringing more play into your work will allow you to rediscover the joy that fuelled you early in your career.

This week, challenge yourself to transform one mundane task into a playful activity and observe the change in your outlook and energy. Let me know how you made out!

Quotation that I have been pondering

We all seek change, striving to improve ourselves. That is part of the paradox of being human; we yearn to grow and expand ourselves, but we resist change. Like it or not, life is about change.

This quote from Rumi resonates with me. Our tendency is to focus on trying to change others, to change the external world, when we should focus on changing ourselves.

Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.

The only way you can make the world a better place is by changing yourself. What is a change you can make to yourself that will be of benefit, and why are you not yet making it?

Make the change today.

Journal Prompt

Your results arise from the decisions you consistently make. This means that your habits and routines either move you closer towards your desired goals, or move you further away from them.

Which is why it is worth reflecting on the following journal question:

If I repeated this day for 100 days, would my life be better or worse?

Reflecting on whether your actions are moving you towards the change you seek to make or away from it is critical. Make sure you head in the direction you want to.