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Top Ten reasons to Play

Written by: Linda Naiman

Article Overview: Play is crucial to creativity, health and well-being. attaining a work/life balance.

Top Ten reasons to Play



1. Play is the path to fun and profit.

Play opens up new channels of creativity and increases the level of satisfaction we experience at work. How employees feel about their company is directly related to their level of productivity and creativity. Research shows that highly motivated employees are up to 127% more productive than averagely motivated employees in high complexity jobs. — Fortune Magazine, January 1998.

2. "Fun is the new status symbol." *

Studies show, if you want to attract and keep talent, you need to have a fun, challenging and creative workplace environment. It's your talent that sets your business apart from the competition.



3. "Non-stop work is for losers" *

Play is as important as work. The quality of our work suffers if we don't take the time to play. We live in a workaholic society in North America. Being addicted to busyness is a product of low self-worth.



4. Even God rested on the 7th day!



And universities have a tradition of offering sabbaticals.



5. We need time to be idle.



Taking time to do nothing lets problems incubate and allows for creativity to flow. Children who are allowed to daydream develop a higher IQ.



6. Play helps us find our genius.



Our childhood passions are the key to our genius. In the midst of play we experience unlimited possibilities.



7. Play is crucial to attaining a work/life balance.



A work/life balance (not money) is the number one concern of employees at all levels, in Canada and the U.S. The ability to achieve this is the top determinant in whether they are happy on the job, and whether they stay or leave.



8. The bow kept forever taut will break. - Zen saying



Play helps us relax and let go. Play generates joy. Play replenishes and revitalizes our human spirit. It clears the mental cobwebs that keep us from thinking clearly.





9. Play is smart corporate strategy for solving problems.



Play frees us from worry and stress, relaxing the brain and making it easier to be more creative. Solutions that seemed so evasive earlier now appear effortlessly in the midst of play.



10. Play keeps our passions alive in the workplace.



Studies show, if you want to attract and keep talent, you need to have a fun, challenging and creative workplace environment. It's your talent that sets your business apart from the competition.

*Source: Report on Business Magazine, Aug. 1999

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Article Tags: busyness, childhood passions, complexity, creativity research, determinant, fortune magazine, genius, iq, losers, midst, new channels, north america, productivity, satisfaction, status symbol, taking time, unlimited possibilities, work life balance, workplace environment, zen



Related Forum Posts
Willing to Fail Your Way to Success - Entrepreneurs in my opinion, must be willing to fail. (This is that risk-taking factor quoted in the other post). If you aren't willing to fail then you don't take risks and if you don't take risks you do I like to call (I am qouting an awesome book called Play to Win!) 'Playing Not to Lose' instead of 'Playing to Win'. When you Play to Win you must risks. Risks are how you build a business and innovate.
Entrepreneur TV Shows - Thanks JWGM - I love Venture - it's a great program as well! I've been watching it for years! Is Squeeze Play on at any other time? I'm not usualy by a TV at 5pm. I'd love to learn more about this show.
How does one suggest improvements to inventions - and get paid for them? I'm sure people write in and complain and suggest new features for various things they buy... and if those changes are implemented that's all well and good, but the person who made the suggestion for the improvment isn't going to get paid for it. How does one suggest these improvements - and get paid for them? ----long story One of the best things the PC did (at least, Dell) was to color code all their little plugs, so you know that the green plug goes into the green hole, the pink into the pink, etc. Makes setting up those things a heckuva lot easier! I was thinking that the same thing should be done for today's TVs! I've had a new TV for a few weeks, set up next to my computer because I like to work and watch TV at the same time. But I've got it set up in such a way that I can't see all the little buttons on the top of the screen, which are the buttons for Stop, Play, Eject (for the internal DVD) , the Volume up and down, and the Channel up and down. Of course, that wasn't a problem when my remote control worked, but for some reason it stopped working a couple of weeks ago. (Yes, I replaced the battery - no good). Since I have the TV so close to my computer it's no problem, I can reach out and touch the buttons... But because they're all the same color, I had to actually get up and look at them to make sure I was pressing the right button. I've solved that problem by attaching a bit of yellow paper to the Play button, and a bit of orange paper to the Volume Up button. Makes things a lot easier...
About That File - Mark Forster, in his excellent and unique time management book, 'Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play' recommends a simple discipline to prevent prevarication and make sure you focus. In 'just get the file out' he suggests (and I know, as I've used it many times myself), that if you just take the initial step in something you've been putting off, it is usually enough to get the thing done.
Re: How many nationalities are on the forum? - Hey, Kev: I call myself Canadian ... but I can't speak French! :-[ My oldest granddaughter just started Play School (I think that's what they call it) and she is enrolled in the French Immersion class. That is great! I think it is valuable to be able to speak more than one language, and I think it also helps to stretch the mind and exercise the brain. GT :-]


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