Can work be play?

TL;DR - Work and play are not opposites after all. Play offers many benefits at work, like reducing stress, improving cognitive function, and building adaptability & resilience. There are three main lanes for play in the workplace: 1) taking play breaks, 2) learning from play, 3) weaving play into the work.?

Author’s note: This is the third installment of Play Well editions that look at the Business of Play.?

The opposite of play is not work. It's depression. - Professor Brian Sutton-Smith

The work/play divide is deeply rooted in our culture. The conventional wisdom (to paraphrase Rudyard Kipling): work is work and play is play, and never the twain shall meet. Save for the possible exception of professional athletes??. And clowns ??.?

But work/play is a false dichotomy. Work can be playful. There are many ways - small and large - to incorporate play into work. Plus, the mental health benefits of play are also beneficial at work.?

In his TED Talk, Dr. Stuart Brown, the founder of the National Institute for Play, encouraged us to break down the artificial barriers separating work and play:??

I would encourage you all to engage not in the work-play differential – where you set aside time to play – but where your life becomes infused minute by minute, hour by hour, with [different] kinds of play. And I think you'll have a better and more empowered life.?

What are the benefits of play at work??

In the first edition of Play Well, I wrote about three main mental health benefits of play for grownups. Play helps:?

• Reduce stress
• Improve cognitive function
• Build adaptability & resilience

Each of these has clear benefits for how we work.?

In addition, play at work can also build trust, boost morale, enhance collaboration, and spur creative thinking that unlocks innovation. What’s not to like?

How can we play at work??

If it’s hard for many of us to find time to play in our personal lives, it’s probably even harder to play at work. Even though, as I like to say, play is a secret superpower that brings happiness, it carries a stigma of being ‘frivolous’ or ‘unproductive’ way to spend our time. That doesn’t jive with the productivity cult that is the modern workplace.?

Yet play has the potential to bring us more joy in our work while helping us be better at our job, for all the reasons noted in the previous section.?

Well, how can we bring play into our work? As I see it, there are three main lanes for play in the workplace:?

• Take play breaks. Making space to play at work can help relieve stress, spur creative juices, and fuel collaboration. There are many ways to do this. A classic one is playing ping pong or foosball in the break room. Even playing a quick game on your phone can bring benefits.?
• Learn from play. Play is a great pathway to building professional skills. There are a number of consultancies and training companies that bring the power of play inside their clients’ organizations. Play can directly enhance specific job skills, like public speaking. And a playful approach can make learning any skill easier, because play makes the training more engaging.? ? ?
• Weave play into the work. This one is the most challenging. Compared with taking a play break, or participating in play-centered training, making your day-to-day work more playful is a tall ask. A few suggestions: Adopt a playful mindset, by thinking of your work as a game or a puzzle to solve. Make your actual work playful, by for instance adding more brainstorms to generate innovative ideas or more storytelling to your communications. Get your co-workers to play along, by bringing your closest colleagues into the fold and having them join you on your journey to weave play into work.

Rather than play and work being opposites, we can integrate them in a way that brings us more joy in our work. Since many of us spend a lot of our waking hours working, that means more joy in our lives.??