Playful at work

We’d all love to be more playful at work, but who really has time for office ping pong and zorbing away days? Play is what you do once you’ve finished all your work, right?

But what if we told you that play will make you more productive, creative and happy? As the saying goes, "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." So, whilst zorbing may never feature heavily in your working week, it may be time to re-think the way you work. Here are some simple steps you can take right now to make play part of everything you do.

1. There’s no such thing as a boring task

A playful mindset can be applied to almost anything. In fact, it’s often the mundane 'everyday' jobs that have the most potential for play. Take the Virgin Trains toilet information. A functional sign would have sufficed, but by adding humour to the copy and celebrity voiceovers to the tannoy announcement, they’ve become something of a cult hit, parodied around the world. Not bad for an officious sign.

What about writing a weekly update email? How could we turn that into play? This is the question we asked ourselves when we realised the internal content updates we sent to our boss every week had become a chore. So, we turned it into a silly 30 second video, featuring penguin costumes and the occasional dog cameo. It doesn’t take any more time for us to do, but it’s more fun for all concerned and gets the team practising their video skills as well.

1. Surround yourself with things that inspire you

It’s hard to be playful when you’re staring at a blank wall in an office. So, surround yourself with things that inspire you. In The Art Of Innovation, Tom Kelley explains how the engineers and creatives at IDEO design studio maintain their edge: from designing full-scale installations to personalise their desks to a communal trolley full of weird and wonderful materials.

If you can’t persuade your manager to let you redecorate the office, try making a scrapbook for you and your team - don’t restrict yourself to things you think will be 'useful' to your job. Just put anything and everything in there that takes your fancy, because you never know when that obscure fact about dung beetle mating habits may come in handy.

1. Embrace the freedom of mediocrity

Being a pro at something can be both a blessing and a curse. If you’re a good writer, you may feel there is undue pressure to 'perform'. It’s hard to be playful and free when there are big expectations, even when they’re just your own, so why not try playing at something you’re not very good at?

Instead of writing, why don’t you try drawing? Or clay modelling? It will help you be less focused on the end results and really throw yourself into the task at hand. This can be a particularly good method for reinvigorating a project you’re going around the houses with.

1. Play is a skill that needs to be honed

It’s important to remember that being playful is a skill. And just like any skill, you need to work at it to be any good. Lucky for you, there’s a wealth of great advice out there on how to be more playful and creative.

One of my favourites is A Technique For Producing Ideas by James Webb Young. This slimline book packs a punch and demystifies the creative process. I’ve read it many times over, and often refer to it when I’m feeling uninspired. For loads of interesting examples of how gamification is being harnessed by a diverse range of companies, read Play At Work by Adam L. Penenberg.

1. Step away from your desk

Desks are a good place to write emails and drink too much coffee. They are generally a bad place to play. So, make sure you step away, even if just for 20 minutes, and reset your brain. No matter how busy you are, you’ll be more productive and creative if you do.

For example, on a particularly meeting-heavy day, I grabbed five minutes to make a cup of tea and unwind. During those five minutes in the kitchen, I came up with the idea for the #Avocard, which ended up being our most successful social campaign ever. So, get away from your desk whenever you can. If your team doesn’t understand that work can happen away from your desk too, then it might be time to start looking for a new job!

1. Don’t worry about being productive

One of the biggest mistakes people make is thinking that everything must have a clearly defined purpose or goal. Some of the greatest discoveries in history were made by accident, by somebody playing around - just because. So, whatever you do, don’t think you have to play at something relevant to your profession. There’s only one rule when it comes to play: it must be fun!

1. Reconnect with your inner child

As adults, we can often find it hard to relax and stop worrying about what other people will think about us. If that applies to you, it might be time to reconnect with your inner child. With zero inhibitions and boundless imagination, children are naturals when it comes to play. If you’re lucky enough to have a child in your life, go spend some time building dens and eating mud pies. Spending hours making up imaginary conversations between my daughter’s dollies really helps my imagination flow, and I’ll often find solutions to work-related problems magically transplant themselves into my mind.

If you’re having trouble sourcing a child, there are still plenty of simple ways to reconnect with your inner child. One of my favourites is to incorporate colouring pencils into your office - they help meetings fly by! We’re lucky enough to partner with Rethink Mental Illness so we’ve got quite a stash of mindfulness colouring pads and pencils strewn around the office - great for zoning out and for long conference calls!

1. Find yourself a playmate

It’s more fun when you’ve got somebody to play with, so find yourself a collaborator - it can be someone in your team, or ideally somebody from a slightly different field so that you come at things from a different perspective. Whoever it is, make sure you have an easy and natural connection. You should feel totally comfortable in their presence and there should be no egos. Try to be open to anything, and don’t think too practically - there will be plenty of time for that later.

For me personally, I feel more inhibited when I’m in a bigger group of people, so when I’m playing and bouncing around crazy ideas, I prefer to do it with a maximum of two other people before I take my ideas more widely.

Now we’d love to hear from you: how do you make play part of your everyday? Share your tips and experiences in the comments so we can all learn to be more playful!