I recently started a daily play practice. Along with meditation, walking, and gratitude, I’m intentionally adding play to my daily routine.
There are many benefits of play for adults as well as children, yet play isn’t something I often include in my day. It’s all too easy to get wrapped up in to-do lists to give much thought to play.
As an entrepreneur, I want to cultivate a regular practice of play to help me have more fun and enrich my life. Being all work and no play makes me feel irritable and unreasonable. I’ll have more play, please!
Now let’s say you hate fun and need a more compelling reason to play. There are many great scientific reasons to play, including:
- improved learning and memory
- boosted productivity
- increased job satisfaction
- community and team building
- lowered stress
For me, play also offers the following benefits:
- increased creativity and innovation
- fun
- enjoyment
- not taking life too seriously
- not taking work too seriously
- not taking myself too seriously
Those are some compelling reasons to play, hence my daily play practice!
But what, exactly, is play? According to play expert, creative strategist and toy designer Yesim Kunter, “the definition of play connotes voluntariness and vulnerability. It’s anything you feel like doing without being made or forced to.”
Growing up there were times I was forced to play, like recess or when my sister and I were driving my mom crazy and she’d tell us to go out and play. Okay, maybe I wasn’t forced so much as strongly encouraged, and I decided to play along.
My daily play practice is a strong encouragement from me to me, and starting has been harder than I thought! Some days I’m naturally feeling playful and other days I’m not. On those not-playful days I often think about my play practice and tell myself things like, “I’ll do that later,” or, “let me just do this one thing first.” Ah, procrastination my old friend. Putting off my play practice usually means never actually getting around to it. Oops!
Like any good habit, such as daily mediation or eating right, creating a play practice takes intention and, well, practice!
I decided to make my play practice easier by creating a list of ways to play. It’s as easy as picking one and having fun! (I made a rhyme!)
- Spontaneous dance party (whether or not there is music playing)
- Skip, jump, run, sprint- any alternative form of mobility will do!
- Ride a bike (put the play between your legs!)
- Splash in a puddle
- Be weird on purpose
- Be spontaneous
- Create an “original moment” ala Garden State
- Draw, color, paint, or doodle
- Sing along loudly to your favorite guilty pleasure track
- Make up silly songs
- Wear bright colors, bold patterns, or mix your patterns
- Wear humorous socks
- Be curious
- Try something new (a new route to work, a new item on the menu, sit in a new spot)
- Make a new friend (approach someone you only sorta know and invite them for a walk or coffee!)
- Make animal noises (best done in public!)
- Work The Princess Bride quotes into everyday conversation
- Tell jokes
- Laugh at puns
- Try laughter yoga
- Play a board game
- Do a crossword, puzzle, or other word/number game (Sudoku, anyone?)
- Play an electronic game (Personally, I’m a fan of Bejeweled.)
- Lose at putt putt golf
- Be silly
- Be irreverent
- Be whimsical
- Make your own play list!
I can’t think of a single disadvantage to creating a daily practice of play. It’s a little bit of effort to create a habit of play, and I know the effort is worthwhile!
Whether or not you decide to create your own daily play practice, I hope at least you use this post to give you some ideas to be more playful today. What do you have to lose? Go play!