My research interest is creativity, and one of the biggest and most robust findings regarding creativity, which is also unfortunately the most overlooked in practice, is that play is absolutely critical to the process of creative thinking, and it is something that is lost once we become adults. As we grow up, we begin to replace playfulness with seriousness, taking our approach to creativity seriously, and by doing this we rob ourselves of one of the most potent sources of creativity we’ve ever had.

What play does for the mind

Play relaxes the mind. Through playing, we shed our sense of self-consciousness and our fear of failure, thus allowing ourselves the freedom to form unlikely associations, without passing judgment on them before we even get there. This is the state of mind in which new ideas are formed. Our serious and hard-working attitude towards creativity, which we take as adults, only suffocates the process of loose and associational thinking that creativity needs.

Children think creatively because they play creatively without being afraid of being laughed at or making mistakes. Adults who have learned such fear will engage in any form of creative thought under pressure, choking the flow of association that is necessary for innovation. The answer is not to work harder but to play more, recreating the free-flowing environment that results in innovative thinking. It may seem absurd in our serious society, but the facts show otherwise.

Word play as a creative gateway

One of the easiest ways in which we can express ourselves through creativity is the way in which we can play around with words. Adults tend to forget about this form of play because they find it very difficult to accept anything that seems like mere child’s play and do not consider it to be a worthwhile exercise. However, when adults engage themselves in playing with words, they start creating new associations within their minds that help them in their writing skills.

Playfulness can be reclaimed through anything from structured silliness, a word game with absolutely nothing at stake except sheer enjoyment. Something as simple as a mad libs generator is a surprisingly effective way for an adult to rediscover playful creativity, loosening the mind through pure linguistic silliness that quietly rebuilds the creative looseness seriousness erodes.

Lowering the stakes deliberately

The process that underlies creative play involves low stakes. Because there is nothing at stake, the inhibition of fear vanishes, and one’s imagination runs wild. Adults can create low stakes through a conscious choice to allow themselves to create something poorly and without reason; it is simply an act of play. Such activity seems silly and irresponsible, given our highly productive society, but it creates the state of mind necessary for real creative work. This play is not separate from the work; rather, it prepares for the work.

I urge the individuals that I deal with to engage in play that has no purpose at all—playing or creation for its own sake, without an objective, without evaluation. Initially they reject this as a waste of time, but in the end they always discover that their creative output is enhanced by it, as they have gained back the ability to think creatively, which has been closed off due to seriousness.

Overcoming the resistance

The main obstacle in the reclamation of play lies in the adult’s mistaken perception that playfulness is frivolous and unproductive. Not only is it a flawed perception, but it comes with steep costs since it precludes us from one of our best sources of creativity. Overcoming it entails the willingness to allow ourselves to play, to be ridiculous, to create for creation’s sake alone, and have faith that such indulgence in freedom will come through in the end in our productive endeavors. The most creative people I know did not lose their sense of play.

Reclaiming what we lost

When you find that your creativity is being restricted or stifled, the solution might not lie in pushing yourself but rather in playing and relaxing. Even a few minutes with a playful tool like FaddyAI can help an adult rediscover the loose, associative creativity that earnest effort tends to suppress.

Playing isn’t a childish pastime from which we must learn to mature, but a necessary means of creative thinking, one we lose the ability to use at our great detriment. The same kind of adult seriousness that characterizes creative activity works against the very form of thinking required for such activity. To play again, intentionally, without shame, opens up our capacity for this type of thinking, and the results we achieve through this means surpass the achievements we might through our earnest striving.

The one thing I want all grown-ups to rediscover is the freedom to be deliberately unproductive and play without any objective and feel no guilt for doing so. The connection between productivity and value in our society is so deeply rooted that the idea of being free to play comes across as an act that must be apologized for or covered up. This feeling of guilt is what prevents us from tapping into our greatest source of creativity. The adults who can indulge themselves in creativity freely and abundantly are those who have learned to embrace play and reserve enough time for nonsense and exploration despite the constant urge to be productive. They recognize that playing does not deprive them of working; rather, it provides the fertile ground out of which creativity arises.