Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to add more play into your life. Do
Speaker 1: something just for the fun of it every day, and
Speaker 1: you may find yourself feeling lighter, happier, and more connected
Speaker 1: to the people you play with. I think it's safe
Speaker 1: to say that a lot of adults could use more
Speaker 1: play in their lives. With family, work, and community responsibilities,
Speaker 1: it can feel like there is not a lot of
Speaker 1: time left for life maintenance and sleep, much less play.
Speaker 1: But after tracking my time for nine years and studying
Speaker 1: thousands of people's schedules, I can attest that almost everyone
Speaker 1: has some discretionary time. We could use it for play
Speaker 1: if we want, even if we tend not to. Sometimes
Speaker 1: people write screeds claiming that the man or capitalism doesn't
Speaker 1: want you to enjoy your leisure time. But I think
Speaker 1: that's kind of ridiculous. No one else really cares what
Speaker 1: you do, so why not go do something just for fun.
Speaker 1: It can make a big difference in how you feel
Speaker 1: about your life and yourself. Now, to be clear here,
Speaker 1: when I say play, I don't just mean playing with
Speaker 1: your kids. Though that can be fun. I enjoy doing
Speaker 1: lego sets with my older kids, but kid play can
Speaker 1: also be not fun, at least for the grown ups involved.
Speaker 1: I really have no desire to play Candyland ever again. Instead,
Speaker 1: really think about what would be fun for you. What
Speaker 1: could you do, not because you want to come plush
Speaker 1: anything or achieve anything, but just for delight. What would
Speaker 1: play look like in your life. One easy option is
Speaker 1: to put on some music and dance. Clearly dancing isn't
Speaker 1: accomplishing anything, but as long as you don't fear judgment,
Speaker 1: it can be really fun. So shut the door, blast
Speaker 1: some tunes on headphones if you need to, and get going.
Speaker 1: If you are new to this idea of playing in
Speaker 1: your free time, try this out for a few days
Speaker 1: see how it feels. Once you get your head around
Speaker 1: the idea of daily play, you might branch out. Perhaps
Speaker 1: you enjoy games. Some people like intellectually demanding games or
Speaker 1: puzzles like crossword puzzles, but don't underestimate the enjoyment to
Speaker 1: be had from playful games like charades or pictionary. Arts
Speaker 1: and crafts can also count as play. You don't have
Speaker 1: to produce some thing worth displaying or even giving as
Speaker 1: a gift. It is just about the experience of creating.
Speaker 1: Try using rubber stamps or stencils to make cards or signs.
Speaker 1: Go to a painting and wine class. Weave potholders or
Speaker 1: make lanyards like you did at summer camp Doodle. Buy
Speaker 1: yourself a tub of plato, make cookies and decorate them
Speaker 1: with icing, sprinkles and googly eyes. You could have friends
Speaker 1: over for crafting, rally your family to join you, or
Speaker 1: just do it solo. Physical play can likewise be great.
Speaker 1: What about a pickup game of basketball or an afternoon
Speaker 1: at the climbing gym. At the pool, you might play
Speaker 1: marco polo instead of just swimming laps. Grab a friend
Speaker 1: and throw around a ball, a frisbee or a boomerang,
Speaker 1: fly a kite, jump on a trampoline. You can also
Speaker 1: try recasting your usual leisure time in more playful terms.
Speaker 1: Instead of going out to dinner with your friends, you
Speaker 1: can rally them to go to paint your own pottery studio,
Speaker 1: or maybe play badminton in your backyard. Rather than going
Speaker 1: to a concert for date night, you and your partner
Speaker 1: can go do karaoke. Having a whole afternoon of play
Speaker 1: or an evening could be awesome. I've even heard of
Speaker 1: groups of middle aged women who have recurring play dates. Yep,
Speaker 1: they call them that. But if that is not available
Speaker 1: for you right now, or you don't like the idea,
Speaker 1: you can still find ways to play every day. In
Speaker 1: the fifteen minutes between work and your yoga class, you
Speaker 1: could work on a Rubuk's cube in the parking lot
Speaker 1: while you wait for your kids to get off the bus.
Speaker 1: You could crank up some Beyonce and dance in your kitchen.
Speaker 1: Spend a little less time tidying before bed, and take
Speaker 1: five or ten minutes for coloring in an adult coloring book.
Speaker 1: When you need a work from home brain break, instead
Speaker 1: of scrolling on your phone, go outside and blow bubbles.
Speaker 1: If you make time, I'm for play. I bet you
Speaker 1: will feel happier, less stressed, lighter, more creative. If you
Speaker 1: play with other people, you'll likely feel connected to them.
Speaker 1: So regardless of how busy you feel, try to do
Speaker 1: at least a little bit of play every single day.
Speaker 1: And if you do, I'd love to hear about it.
Speaker 1: You can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: In the meantime this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and
Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for
Speaker 1: listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. More podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.