Make August playful again

Adults need more play. Especially creatives.

In fact I’ve very rarely met a successful creative who isn’t playful in some way.

 “Art is how adults play,” say Brian Eno and Bette A in their excellent book What Art Does. “We keep playing as adults because we need to keep learning. Play is research.”

So for the past few years, I’ve been giving myself permission to play more in August. Which sounds simple. Yet it’s been a long, slow, surprisingly difficult process. 

I didn’t realise how addicted I was to work, and how tied up it was with my own feelings of value and worth – until I tried to stop working for a while.

Four years ago, I announced I was taking August off. 

And for the next two years, I prepared for this by trying to do all the work I would have done in August the month before. Along with all of July’s work. 

You can probably spot the flaw in this cunning plan. But I didn’t manage to see it, for an embarrassingly long time. 

Instead I slogged away throughout July and well into August, working long hours so that I could ‘earn’ or ‘deserve’ my time off. 

Then I collapsed, too tired to do anything much until September arrived. 

Finally, I mastered the art of relaxing.

Two years ago, I realised that I didn’t need to ‘earn’ a break. Or ‘deserve’ it. I just needed to take it. 

So I warned my coaching clients well in advance that I was taking a break. I was worried they would be disappointed. Truthfully, most were relieved. They too were busy juggling summer holidays, children and work, and confessed they were wondering how to fit in our coaching conversations. 

Instead of writing new blog posts, I repeated popular ones. I still wrote my weekly newsletters, but they were often shorter. And I took four weeks off. 

No one complained. I doubt many even noticed.

But for me, the long break was transformational.

I slept in late and took afternoon naps when I wanted them. I read books, took courses. I listened to podcasts and went for long walks. Saw films and exhibitions. Caught up with friends. Had picnics on the beach. 

When I returned to work in September, I felt full of energy and ideas. I was also able to prioritise better and think more clearly, so the final third of the year was productive without feeling like a grind.

 If you can, I’d encourage you to try this.

It’s relatively easy for me. My son is an adult now, and my business gives me a lot of control over my time – and my cashflow. 

Your circumstances might be different, and I appreciate that with younger children, deadlines and bills to pay, it isn’t always possible to take a long, luxurious break. 

Nonetheless, set yourself a mission to be as playful as possible this month. And just see what happens. 

What might a playful August look like?

Steal spaces for yourself, wherever you can. Take micro-breaks. Schedule treats, little explorations, day trips, evening or lunchtime adventures. 

Do tasks the easy way for the next few weeks, instead of over-complicating them. (My two favourite questions for this: How could this be more simple? And how could it be more fun?)

Laugh more. Especially when things go wrong. 

If you need to work, look for ways to turn it into a game. (Play music; use a timer to see how much you can do in 15, 30 or 60 minutes; give yourself rewards..)

Get curious. 

Experiment, and see how this all feels. 

• What really fills you up and inspires you? 
• What makes you feel rested and alive? 
• Does it make work feel easier? 
• Are you actually more productive, more creative if you’re a little kinder, and cut yourself some slack? 

We are conditioned to avoid play, as adults.

It feels frivolous. Unserious. And many of us working in creative fields had to struggle to be taken seriously. 

We already feel a little like we’re cheating, that we don’t have a ‘real’ job. (Or we’re worried that our friends and family think that.)

So when I suggest that clients play more, most of them resist at first.

There are endless excuses. They’re too busy, they’re not earning enough, they feel guilty. Or they say they will do it, once the decks are cleared, or they’ve hit their next deadline, or they’ve finished this one last thing. (And then another thing. And another.)

Eventually, they’ll often confess that it’s been so long since they’ve let themselves play that they’re not sure how. 

So I have some suggestions to help.

I’ve just published the first in a series of Useful Little Books for creatives. It’s called Creative Play: 365 Ideas for Artist Dates and Solo Adventures. 

It’s a quick read, with just over 100 pages of ideas for creative play dates, artist dates or solo adventures. Full details below if you’re interested.

Buying the book helps support me, and this website. But mostly, I’m hoping it will help you to have fun, and be a little less hard on yourself. 

When you play more, magic happens.

I see it with my coaching clients, over and over again, once they start building more play into their lives and their work.

They feel more inspired. They get into flow more easily. They’re more able to see what’s important, and what’s just busywork. So they get more done, on the work that matters. 

And as they lighten up, so do the people around them. 

Joy is infectious. 

It’s life-enhancing. And it’s also quietly subversive. 

One of our roles, as artists and creatives, is to explore new ways of living. To try fresh ideas, and show others what is possible: in our work and in the stories we tell, but also in the ways we move in the world.

I believe that finding what brings us alive, what spreads joy – and then doing more of those things – is an act of defiance, of rebellion. Especially now. 

Joy is the antidote to anger and division. It’s hard to hate and fear someone when you’ve laughed alongside them, sung and danced with them, experienced awe and wonder together.

And this all starts with play. 

So how can you make your month more playful?

Do let me know how it goes!