Why the opposite of play is not work
Have you ever seen a small kid running on a treadmill?
How about a kid at a networking event passing out his business card?
Or a kid ‘catching up’ with his friend at Starbucks over a double mochachino?
If you did, you’d probably burst out laughing at how ridiculous they looked. That’s because these things are pretty boring and lame.
Kids don’t work, they play.
When you were younger maybe you remember doing some of these fun activities:
Playing catch or kicking a ball in the park with a friend
Dancing around
Reading a fiction novel
Picking up an instrument and fiddling around
Dodgeball
Spontaneous trips to DisneyLand
Naps in the middle of the day
Playing charades
Unicycling
Board games
Placing a piece of chewing gum to cover part of the water fountain spout and hiding behind the corner to watch the next unsuspecting victim get water sprayed in their face
Bowling
Doodling/drawing
Paintball
Water balloon fights
…and the list goes on
As we crossed the imaginary threshold into adulthood we began to approach things a bit more seriously. We started to prioritize productivity at the expense of everything else, including play. Ain’t nobody got time to dilly dally around.
This is, most certainly, fucking us up.
“The opposite of play is not work — the opposite of play is depression,” says Dr. Brown, author of the book Play. They are not at opposite ends, but they are mutually supportive. And to be a fully-functioning, happy and stable person, we need both.
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
There’s a reason play happens naturally when we’re younger. Animals who play more often are more likely to survive in the wild. Rough and tumble play in animals and humans is key to a fully developed prefrontal cortex and developing proper social skills. Play prepares our young brains for life.
And the benefits of play don’t stop at childhood. Many of our inventions and human progress came from play. The invention of math likely came from playing with numbers. Fireworks came before cannons. Darwin collected samples from his garden as a kid for fun before creating his theory of evolution. Albert Einstein has confessed that his thinking on theoretical physics was drawn from music (he played the piano and violin). The first steam engine was a toy. The first airplanes, too. Augmented reality’s biggest breakthrough to date came with Pokemon Go.
The most successful people seem to bring a sense of playfulness to their work and their lives. It’s Elon Musk launching a Tesla into space. It’s the CEO of Goldman Sachs moonlighting as a DJ. It’s Steve Jobs prank-calling Starbucks and ordering 4,000 lattes.
Even if you’re not an inventor, CEO or Nobel Prize winner, play is beneficial. It actually leads to better ideas, great happiness and more productivity. Fortunately, everyone can play. It only requires a few minutes a day to break the cycle of being a boring old grinch.
For me, recently it’s been taking a dance class, playing dodgeball and picking at my ukulele. Maybe for you it’s shooting hoops, exploring a new part of your city, or playing throw the stick with your dog. Maybe it’s doing improv or stand-up. Or brainstorming with your team, cracking jokes, letting ideas wander. It’s different for everyone. For one person rearranging tools in a garage may be the funnest thing in the world, while others would prefer to play darts at the bar.
It doesn’t matter so much what it is, as long as it’s fun for you.
In the long run, work doesn’t really work without play. Work should feel like a game you would willingly play because it’s rewarding and energizes you. If everything feels like a slog, it’s worth asking yourself whether you need more play in your life, or if you’re in the right job.
So, what’s something you enjoy doing for the sake of doing it? What did you used to do for fun? How can you put some more of that in your day?
Here’s my recommended reading on play, check it out!