Play With a Purpose: How Having Fun Benefits Introverts in Healthcare
Introverts in Healthcare,
Let fun work for you.
I'm sure you've come across the idea of balancing life and work. A Google search on work-life balance gives you over 3.5 billion results.
I've always found it interesting that work sits on one side of the scale while health, relationships, spirituality, play, community, and personal growth sit on the other. The role of career in our lives can seem a bit heavy-handed.
Yes, your career is important, but it's not everything. It certainly isn't the one thing that can make you happy.
In fact, when we try to derive our satisfaction from only one aspect of our lives, we generally set ourselves up for negative consequences, such as increased stress, health issues, and relationship conflicts.
While giving weight to every domain in your life is necessary, I'd like to focus on play and creativity today. If this feels frivolous, I'm here to persuade you why it's not.
Let's jump in.
The Benefits of Creativity and Play
Play isn't an inconsequential, nice-to-have activity. Here are 6 practical benefits of having fun, according to resources shared by the National Institute for Play.
Stress relief and improved mood. Play releases endorphins, the "feel good" hormones. These contribute to an overall sense of happiness and a more positive outlook.
Improved cognition and memory. Play that engages your mind, like puzzles or games, boosts your brain's recall and processing.
Deeper connection and bonding. Playing together strengthens relationships by encouraging empathy, compassion, and trust. Shared activities create a commonality that fosters connection.
Creativity and problem-solving. Play allows you to be in the moment and enter a flow state. This, in turn, creates a sense of effortlessness and makes finding new ideas and solutions more accessible.
Self-compassion. Play encourages creativity, and creativity is all about experimentation. When you're playing, the reward is not in getting it "right". Instead, the play is the payoff. Mistakes are just part of the fun.
Stay forever young. Engaging in play makes you more likely to adopt a growth mindset, stay curious, and adapt to change. Rather than stagnating and feeling stuck, you engage that sense of wonder and awe you had as a child.
How Introverted Healthcare Professionals Can Put More Play In Their Day
Play and fun can mean different things to different people. As an introvert, you get to decide what play means for you.
Here are some ideas to start incorporating play into your day.
*Start with your mindset.
Introverts have a rich inner world. Take advantage of that.
Approaching life with a playful attitude is not childish. Instead, it's about incorporating a sense of joy, wonder, and curiosity. Get playful with your thoughts.
*Choose activities that pique your creativity and sense of playfulness.
What did you love doing as a child? Try coloring, building models, or returning to a craft you once enjoyed. Get out the building blocks and see what happens.
If you need something a little more "grown-up”, try poetry, drawing, or photography. You could also learn how to play a musical instrument or design and tie flies for fishing.
Even learning a new language can feel like play if you approach it with a sense of adventure.
*Like anything that's important, schedule it.
Put playtime on your calendar. If this seems outlandish, start with short blocks of time. Give yourself 10 minutes to engage in an activity for the pure joy of doing it without weighing it down with the need for it to be productive or "valuable".
*Be on the lookout for a chance to play.
The more you look for those opportunities, the more you'll find them. Welcome spontaneity into your life and see what happens.
You've probably spent much of your life saying "yes" to the "responsible" things. Now, learn how to say "yes" to fun.
Play And Work
At first glance, pairing play and work can seem paradoxical.
I'll admit, doing so wasn't my strong suit. Medicine is a serious business, and I carried in the back of my mind a reprimand I'd received as a medical student after trying to create a little light-heartedness for a patient with a chronic illness.
Even so, the effects can be magical when you start seeing play and work as accomplices rather than enemies.
How so?
*Play can inspire innovation and problem-solving. Research has noted we feel more engaged, generate more creative ideas, and perform better when we playfully approach our work.
*Workplace stress and burnout are reduced when we add play to work. It's been noted that people who foster a positive attitude toward play at work experience reduced symptoms of burnout.
*Bringing play into the workplace fosters collaboration and helps build positive relationships. When we can interact with our colleagues and patients more light-heartedly, feelings of trust and safety are often a by-product.
If you haven't already been incorporating play into your life on the regular, I hope I've piqued your curiosity and inspired you to take action.
Play isn't frivolous.
It's necessary.
Take a minute to list 10 ways to start incorporating play into your life.
Then, get to work play.
Notice what happens. I'd love to hear how it goes.
Charity is a physician burnout coach helping introverts in healthcare escape feelings of apathy, irritability, and resentment brought on by the increasing demands and decreasing rewards of medicine.
She uses her 20 years of experience in clinical medicine combined with coaching to help introverts discover ways to be diligent, thoughtful clinicians while prioritizing their needs and protecting their energy. She wants you to know you don’t have to feel guilty for wanting a thriving life inside and outside of medicine.