Episode 172: Five Ways to Start Adding More Play to Your Workday
Play looks different on everyone, but it has some common denominators: it helps us learn new tasks better, improves our mood, and boosts our productivity.
If you’re asking yourself how it’s possible to add play into a 40-hour work week, Erin has five answers for you to take and run with on today’s episode.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Add one of the five ways to add more play into your workday into tomorrow’s schedule.
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Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 172 Transcription
Erin (00:00):
Welcome to the Improve It Podcast.
Erin (00:10):
Okay, improve it peeps. Let me just tell you, I had to rerecord this episode because ya girl could not use words. I was talking to you in a pre-recording and I was like, so anyway, welcome to today's show. Welcome back to the month of May, where we, it's going up a may where we are talking all about feeding your inner child. Now as you can tell, I'm feeling a little loopy. I'm getting a little silly because guess what? The topic for today is about having more fun, more play living dreams during your workday. Let me ask you this, do you feel stuck creatively right now? If so, say, I heard so many eyes through these podcast airwaves. Are you feeling bored at work? Say, I, are you feeling numb to the work that you are doing? Say I, and are you feeling stagnant, stuck like you're not going anywhere when it comes to your career growth?
Erin (01:26):
Say I now. So we've covered your bases. Let's talk about your team. Does your team seem quiet? Say I, does your team seem unsupportive? Say hi. And do they seem disengaged? Say hi. Now I'm giggling over here and this is not a laughing matter. Let me tell you that for free. However, I do know that when it comes to making all of these things completely the opposite, the ANM versus the synonym, there is one thing I know that can turn all of this around for you and your team. And that is Clay. Now you're listening to this show. So you know that we infuse improv into our work to help people show up as better human beings, people, professionals, what have you. So play is in my d n a I was put on this earth to play and let me share with you some research that people have researched, really smart people, <laugh>.
Erin (02:48):
Actually, this is from the Association for Psychological Science. So know that this research has been written about in Forbes all different types of business magazines. And it indicates that we learn a new task better when it's fun, and it can even improve our mood and our productivity. Some experts also subscribe to the idea that playtime can stimulate our imagination, helping us adapt and solve problems better and quicker. So if any of these things feeling stuck creatively, feeling bored, feeling numb, feeling stagnant, if any of those things resonate with you, listen up because I have five ways to start adding more play into your workday. Drum roll please.
Erin (03:40):
Number one. All right. Number one involves the word play, and it is a play last, okay? Now, playlists are truly things that bring me joy. And if you are a person who lived in the eighties and nineties, or was born in the eighties and nineties and you used to make killer playlists and then burn 'em onto a CD and then name the CD and then give the CD to your friend and say, Hey, play this in your Honda Civic. You know what I'm talking about. When you press play on that playlist, it takes you back to a place in time. It takes you back to the high school parking lot where you're looking at your ex-boyfriend and you're telling yourself, is this it? Is this all there is? Anyway, I'm digressing. But a playlist has the power to connect us inwardly and to bring positivity to our day.
Erin (04:42):
Now, if you really wanna set a vibe, put on a killer playlist, light a candle, and start the day, that is how I start. Every single morning when I'm working from home, I come in, I turn on my lamp, I turn on my neon sign that says, I see you. I light a candle, I put on my playlist and I go to Tam. That is it. That is the ritual that I do to get me into flow. So figure out a flow for yourself. It doesn't have to be that exact same thing, but put on a playlist that fuels you, motivates you, makes you smile, lifts you up. You can also go to Spotify and check out our podcast page as well as a link to our playlist. Nicole, an amazing team member on our team, our Clients Experience associate, has created playlist based on the theme of our shows.
Erin (05:42):
So you can listen to the Improvement podcast on the theme that we have every single month. And then there's also songs that relate to that theme that you can listen to in conjunction with the show. So we'll put that in the show notes for you. But don't estimate the power of a killer playlist to start adding more joy and playfulness into your day. It's a great way to start the day. It's a great way to end the day. It's a great way to give yourself a dance break. One thing and improvement that we used to do when we had an office space was show Tune Friday. So we'd pick a Broadway show, we'd play it in the office. Our neighbors loved it in our co-working space, but we were all huge fans of musicals. So we would pick a playlist and that would fuel the day.
Erin (06:33):
On Friday, we called it Show Tune Friday. And so now that we all work from home, we have a Slack channel called Show Tune Friday. And we actually put in the playlist that we're listening to on show Tune Friday into that playlist. And it's just a way to add some joy, to add some fun to make that spreadsheet seem sexy, to just enjoy your time in front of a computer if that's what your day-to-day entails. Now here's number two, the second way to add more play to your workday. This has changed my life working with my pet. Now remember before Covid, before hybrid work was a huge thing. People could bring their pets to work offices. Who did that I was absolutely in love with, cuz nothing makes you smile more than a cute dog, a free animal. It can, doesn't have to be a dog, it could be a cat.
Erin (07:33):
Think about ways that you can incorporate your pet into your workday. So I have an eight pound toy poodle. My last name is Deal. His name is Big Deal. You get it. And he is old. He is about 11 years old. He is also blind now, completely blind. And I will tell you that brings some sadness to my life. But the joy that I get when I look over from my laptop and I see him lying on his bed in my office makes me so happy. And a great way to add play into your workday is to take breaks and play with your pet. Whether it's a cat, whether it's a dog, whether it's a bird, whether it's a hamster, if it is an animal like a dog that you can get up and take for a walk, do it. Do it. Sunshine movement, all of these things have the power to transform our mood, to take us out of what was causing us discomfort and unease and bring joy.
Erin (08:34):
So it's a simple fix, but it's an easy fix. And if you don't have a pet, here's a pro tip. Get yourself a Pinterest page, okay? And make a board of all of your favorite animals. And I actually, this is, this is a real pro tip. Whenever I have a hard conversation or a presentation that might make me uncomfortable or I might be nervous about, I go to this Pinterest board and I glance at these animals that I'm obsessed with and it brings a smile to my face. It makes my show, my shoulders drop just a little, and it makes me connect back to life. It makes me connect back to happiness and joy, and it allows me to realize that life is not that serious. Now, I say that be there are a lot of jobs out there that are very serious. And those jobs such as doctors, such as therapists, such as nurses, and anyone in the healthcare profession, I wanna honor you and tell you thank you for the work that you do. Those are, you are seriously saving lives.
Erin (09:56):
And every single job has its own mission and purpose. And I love to tell my team this as a reminder. We're changing lives. We're not saving lives. It is not super serious. We don't have to get so disconnected from ourselves and our joy that it makes work seem miserable and unfun. So add something super simple like taking your pet on a walk or looking at pictures of animals to add more play to your day. Now, here's number three. You by law, if you work a 40 hour work week and are a salaried employee are required to take a lunch break, you are required to take a lunch break by law. So let's listen to the law and enforce it. Take time away from your desk and do something fun. If you work in a busy city and you have access to a gym, go for, go for a walk or go to the gym, take a gym class, take strength training class, take a dance class, and let yourself just be, change your environment, change your mood.
Erin (11:16):
Now, if you work from home, and it would take you too long to get to said location, to take a class, there are so many things that you can pull up on your phone. You could literally YouTube dance class and get a free dance class on your phone just to give yourself some movement in your day, some positivity, and a chance to do something different than what you've been working on for the past four hours. So take a lunch break and I wanna remind you that you must take a break yourself or you will break my friends. You are required by law to take a lunch break. Take it. Now, here is something number four that I am super into right now. I'm loving so much. A great way to add more play into your workday is to celebrate. Celebrate everything. So there is an app that my coach Jane, who was on this show, turned me on to, it's called Win Streak, w i n Streak.
Erin (12:29):
It's a free app and you can get it on your phone. And it is literally an opportunity to record your wins. That's what it is. You record your wins for the day, and then you list out the wins that you'll have for the following day, almost as if you're willing them to happen. I can tell you with confidence that by embracing and celebrating the smallest wins, I have increased my joy and play in my life tenfold. I've also increased just the things that have come into my life by celebrating the joyful things that already exist. So to get this app, it's called Win Streak. It's free and start recording your wins. Another great way to do this with your team is if you use a communication channel like Slack to create a winning channel on Slack or hashtag Wins channel, and have your team place their wins in the channel throughout the day, especially when it comes to things that happen that can benefit and impact the team.
Erin (13:42):
Like you've won a great piece of business, you've got a great podcast guest, you booked such and such on their podcast, they're celebrating the smallest wins. Even if you don't get the yes that you're looking for, but it's a maybe is so important. It adds joy, it brings laughter, levity, and it reminds people of their why. I'm telling you. Number four, if you take nothing away from this show, take number four and apply it. And finally, your number five start adding more joy to your workday is to laugh and add, improve it. We have something that we have developed called Laugh Breaks. Now these were formed in 2020. They were also as seen in Forbes, okay? And literally they are short form improv sessions for your team Zoom meetings, and they're 20 minutes, 30 minutes, or 45 minutes in length. They're like the Uber of laughter.
Erin (14:56):
You could book this for your team meeting within 48 hours on our website. You pick the date, you pick the time for improvisers show up to bring your team, laughter, levity, and positivity. It's similar to whose line is it anyway, if you don't know what short form improv is, these are games that we use audience participation through the chat function. We love to have, if it's a audience of over 100, or sorry of under 100, we like to have everybody on camera so we can see the faces, but the audience stays on mute while the performers are off mute. And we use Zoom as the platform to host these meetings. We can use your Zoom link, you can hop on ours, whatever works best for your team. We have done at this point over 100 laugh breaks since the inception in 2020. And truly these were formed in the pandemic as a way for teams to connect, add more joy to their day.
Erin (15:59):
And I'm gonna be selfish in saying that they added so much joy to a very dark time in my life. In 2020, you can find the link to Laugh Breaks in the show notes or go to our website, learn to improve it.com, and you'll see the tab for Laugh Breaks there. So here is a quick recap. Five ways to Start Adding More Play to your Workday. Number one, you can definitely add that playlist to your morning routine. Add it to your afternoon routine. Check out the show notes yet again for our Spotify playlists. You can put on a podcast, get To Work. I'm not a person who can work when somebody's talking to me. Maybe you can, I need, I need more of an intense focus. So up to you. But playlists are key. Number two, get your animal outside or create some type of visual that brings you back to joy and animals and kindness and love and hugs and cuddles.
Erin (17:08):
Number three, make sure that you take your lunch break and yes, and it with a dance class, a yoga class, a gym class, a walk around the block. Get outside, move your body. Number four, celebrate your Wins. You can use that win streak app you'll see in the show notes. Or you could create the winning channel on Slack or Teams for your team. And number five, you could book a laugh, break with improve it and enjoy your team and enjoy some laughter, levity, and positivity during your workday with some improv came day. So Improve It Peeps. This episode was short and sweet. I was feeling a little giggly when I recorded it, and I think that's, that is the fun of talking about play at work. It makes you excited, it makes you silly, it makes you joyful. So connect back to that inner child, add more play into your workday. Keep showing up here for yourself and know I'm so proud of you. Keep failing. Keep improving. The world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I'll see you next time. Hey, Fred, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info Learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve It Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.