Making time for play is good for the mind and soul

LAKEVILLE, Minn. — People who integrate play into their lives are more energized and able to complete their work.

“The secret superpower of success is play, not working harder,” said Kelly McDonald during a presentation at the Women’s Seminar organized by Compeer Financial. “That’s why corporate executives go on a retreat or play golf because it actually refreshes the brain and makes us better when we come back to focus on business.”

People have good days and bad days.

“A lot of times when things are rough we think we don’t have time to play, but that’s really counterproductive to getting back on track,” said the author and professional speaker. “Fun is sometimes the answer.”

McDonald talked about a study that asked grade school teachers about the most important skill a student should have.

“Unanimously, creativity was ranked as the most important skill,” she said.

The teachers were also asked to rank the kids by their creativity and by the order of likability.

“One of the things they found was the most creative kids were also the least liked by their teachers because the kids who had the most creativity also were the most disruptive,” McDonald said. “Those kids were the most interested in discovery and play.”

The kids that were expressing themselves and their creativity were being scolded for being disruptive.

“Their creativity over time was crushed out of them as they learned not to raise their hand and not goof off,” McDonald said. “Their creativity was slowly drained out of them because they conformed to the expectations of the classroom.”

Every person has a reticular activating system, which is how people perceive the world.

“It controls our sleeping, waking and our attention,” McDonald said. “It allows us to focus on what we value and what we perceive to be a threat.”

RAS validates what a person already knows.

“It doesn’t introduce new ideas to us which puts us on autopilot and we don’t really have to think about tasks,” McDonald said. “But it can be problematic because RAS can act as a brick wall.”

“RAS allows us to see what we want to see, but not necessarily the possibilities that are out there,” she said.

“When you’re thinking of buying a blue Volkswagen, all you start seeing on the road are blue Volkswagens,” she explained. “That’s your RAS at work — showing you what you want to see and validating what you already know.”

Another chemistry aspect of the brain is myelin.

“Myelin opens up channels in our brain and makes skills, tasks and repetitive work easy for us,” McDonald said. “You don’t have to think about how to wash dishes. You just keep doing it.”

Myelin makes people efficient at repetitive tasks.

“But the problem is it results in the same ideas,” McDonald said.

“The remedy to get past the RAS and myelin in our brain is to force our brains to think differently and to be refreshed,” she said. “The way to do that is with play, not working harder.”

Applying play with a purpose takes out the bricks in the brick wall of RAS and it fosters creativity, McDonald said.

“It energizes us even when we just take a break, walk away and make a cup of coffee,” she said. “That’s why meetings and conferences have breaks because it’s really good to interact with each other.”

Play can be a physical form such as working out, dancing, playing an instrument or throwing a Frisbee.

“Mentally, play makes us open and vulnerable because when we’re interacting with other people or we are involved with music or sports, our minds are more open because they have to be,” McDonald said. “Studies show that this decreases stress and cortisol.”

Cortisol goes into overdrive when a person is stressed.

“It will also make you gain weight,” McDonald said. “That’s why when people are super stressed their health starts to suffer because they’re not sleeping as much and they’re gaining weight.”

When kids and adults try things that are new, McDonald said, that fosters creativity.

“Our imaginations have nothing to do with what’s real or what’s possible,” she said.

For example, when adults see a cardboard box, they might think about breaking it down for recycling.

“But kids see a box and they make it into a rocket ship,” McDonald said. “That box is not a rocket ship, but to kids it’s totally a rocket ship.”

It is important for everyone to be open to the intersection of random, the author said.

“You never know where something you do that’s not work will take you,” McDonald said.

“My best example is Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg,” she said. “These two people on the surface have nothing in common so producers thought it would be fun to throw them together for a show and they never expected them to jell.”

However, what they got was two people who really hit it off.

“The audience could see their interactions were genuine and sincere,” McDonald said. “And off camera they became friends in real life.”

The biggest block for people to pursue hobbies or fun is time.

“Find two hours per week by minimizing, shedding or rearranging,” McDonald advised. “You have to make room for play or it won’t happen, so take the time you deserve because it is good for your mind and soul.”