Using Play to Create Better Work

The myth about the Resistance is that it shows up only when we have important work to do.

The truth is that Resistance can show up at any time, even when it comes to play and rest. For many high-achievers and get-it-done types, the Resistance to play can often be stronger than the Resistance that shows up in our work.

Our conditioning to finish our work before we can play runs deep.

When I was a child, play was the reward for completing my work. It’s hard to shake that mindset. I often find myself still following the rule to finish my homework before I can play.

Creating space to play before completing work can trigger feelings of guilt. We might feel like we haven’t “earned” our “break.” This becomes a problem when we begin to work as adults, because the work doesn’t end. It’s never complete.

What if the real problem is how we think about work and play?

Dissolving the Division Between Work and Play

Philosopher Alan Watts observed that in our culture we create a rigid division between work and play.

… when we use the word game or play in English, we usually tend to mean that it’s something trivial. You see, we divide life very strictly into play and work…. play is considered something separate from work. Work is serious, play is not serious.

Watts called this a “shattering, awful feature of our culture.”

According to Watts, this division between work and play creates a situation where most people work at tasks which they hate so that they can make enough money to stop doing it and play.

Intuitively, we know that our mental and emotional state impacts our productivity and the quality of our work. Yet we resist play.

And when we do play, we don’t get the full benefits of it because, as Watts noted, we play with an ulterior motive. He observed that we play because we believe play is good for us, which detracts from some of the benefits of play.

Leaving the Purpose of Play

We also play to win. As a result, we can bring the same rigidity to our play that we bring to our work, which depletes our energy.

If you treat your work like a subtle game, if you make it into art, and make it in to play, then you won’t be tired out at the end of the day. — Alan Watts

Rather than playing because it’s “good for us,” we can recognize, as Watts observed, that

Play is not useful. It does’t achieve anything we would call purposeful work.

And that’s ok.

Play to Play

What if we really allowed ourselves to play, as we did when we were kids, before we learned about competition and winning and perfecting skills?

When we truly play just for the sake of playing, the inner critic doesn’t show up. We engage more fully. We have fun.

Our work can be sacred work without being serious.

Regard everything you are doing as play, and don’t imagine for one moment that you have got to be serious about it.

What if we created work not because it serves a purpose or because it’s useful, but simply because it’s play?

Perhaps we would find that this work is, in fact, useful. We might discover we produce better quality work. We might also find that we are more engaged in our work and less tired at the end of the day.

Play As a Catalyst, Instead of a Reward

What if play was not the reward for completing our work, but the catalyst for producing great work?

This is the real secret of life — to be completely engaged with what you are doing in the here and now. And instead of calling it work, realize it is play. — Alan Watts