We all know that play is fun and work is hard, right? So could we possibly have lots of fun and yet get great work done? I say we could if we knew how. Granted, we cannot have fun the entire time we’re working and still fulfill what is expected of us.
However, if we purposefully infused play in cleverly selected phases of our work, we will far exceed those expectations. Playfulness unlocks creative potential. It increases our curiosity which leads us to explore and consequently make amazing discoveries.
An Experiment in Play
Recently, I decided to take a break, from working at creating art and rather, played at creating art. I took out some art supplies and decided to play. It was super fun and I had no expectation of creating anything visually pleasing.
Then I realized something, in the process of playing, I had pulled in ideas and techniques, that had been filed away somewhere in my brains, which I had never allowed myself to explore.
This playful exploration generated so many great ideas and oh my!, was I amazed at what I’d created. Although the resulting piece was not quite ready for presentation, it became a great source of inspiration; – a source of inspiration from which I created some wonderful pieces.
Playfulness does inspire creativity.
Every now and then, find ways of injecting play into your work. Remove the constraints and limitations within which you normally work and work as though you didn’t have to meet any specific requirements. You will generate some great ideas from which you can work off of.
Exploring these new ideas and determining what to keep and what not to requires more analytical thinking (this is where playfulness ends and work begins). But you can bet that the quality of candidates you’ll have in your pool for further analysis will be amazing indeed.
Benefits of Playfulness
Whatever it is that happens in our brains when we precede ‘work’ with play, whether a more relaxed state of mind, or an exploratory mindset or some other chemical reactions that we know nothing of, it is a good thing which fuels creativity.
So find ways to make play work for you- maintain a continuous cycle of play – work- play.
Your Turn
Have you ever employed play as an assistant in your work? If not, will you try it out sometime? Tell us about it in the comments section.
Great piece! Precious Clara, you do not cease to amaze me with your depth knowledge, creativity and passion… You’re such an inspiration!!!
Thanks for visiting, I appreciate it. I’m glad you enjoyed this post.
WOW! Simple, yet, cuts across the heart like a hot knife going through butter. That is very true. Incorporating play time with work time generates a fresh sense of passion and brings meaning to complex situations. More often than not, that unique blend has created avenues for innovative ideas and have been used as a stress-breaker. I guess that is God’s recipe to a satisfied/peaceful life, meant to calm the anxious soul. God give you more of such gems of wisdom. They are needed in such a stressful world. Blessings to you my friend.
How so true. Preceding work with play is a great method for idea generation. Thanks for your thoughtful comments.