Recently I read an interview with Maxwell Hartt, urban planning expert and professor, about his recent book, Aging Playfully: Reimagining the Possibilities of Age-Friendly Community Planning.
In the interview, he talks about walking around a city with his work team and fighting the urge to go down this “really sweet slide” at a playground. After the third pass, he gave in to his urge and just dealt with the embarrassment in exchange for the endorphins.
I very much related to the experience of walking past a playground and wanting to go on the swings or do a quick run around, but feeling pressure to be “adult-like” from the group I was with or people nearby.
Fun and play can be anywhere, even at work, but sometimes the permission to play is the thing that’s hard to find.
If you’re wondering how to play at work, something Maxwell said really stuck out to me:
Be curious about why you feel you can’t do it. Is it true? What would happen if you just did? What if you invited your team to play a quick game of 21 questions? What if you made a funny face on a call? What if you took a break to play a video game in the middle of the work day? Is it that different from going for a mid day walk or making a snack?
Even if you don’t go down the metaphorical slide, when you start thinking this way, you’ll notice that there is room for play at work. Norms are made up and they can also be changed.
That call to play is there for a reason and you should answer it when it feels right. I think we all have some big feelings around playing and being playful as adults. It sounds silly to be so serious about this, but play really is essential to our health and wellbeing and it’s key to creating connections that will help you succeed at work, school, and just generally life!
Treat this as permission to play this week! Playful thoughts or playful acts. It is time to shenan again. Get after it!
Good luck, have fun
