The power of a play project

Posted by John on October 19th, 2010

I’ve been busy recently co-running the Screw Work Let’s Play Programme, helping ten people find out what work would really feel like play to them.

The core of the programme is getting the participants to launch a play project – a 4 week project that will be fun to do and explores an area of work or creativity they feel drawn to. The participants then have a non-negotiable deadline to share the results of their project with the leaders (me, Marianne Cantwell and Selina Barker) and the nine other participants.

You can create your own Play Project as long as you build support into it. This means:

  1. You set a non negotiable deadline with another person (or persons) to share the results of your Play Project
  2. You have someone (or some people) to turn to when you hit a setback – either an obstacle to your project or an internal doubt or resistance

Even I have been surprised just how powerful a play project can be when these factors are present. Successful Play Projects by participants of the SWLP Programme have included defining a new business idea, creating an ebook, and recording a pop song.

The process feels completely counter-intuitive at first because it requires that you stop fretting about your ideal work or how you could ever get paid – and start doing something. If you are stuck on that very first question “What would I enjoy?” you will benefit hugely from this. At a later stage, you can create further play projects to move you towards getting paid.

Here’s why Play Projects work so well:

  • You get into action at last so you don’t feel powerless over your life any more
  • You find out what you enjoy, what you don’t, what you’re good at, what you’re not so good at – all extremely useful information for your future work direction
  • It’s fun – you get your creative juices going again – and this is a much better state in which to make career decisions and make them happen. As one participant on our programme said “This has affected every area of my life – people are commenting that I haven’t looked this good in ages!”
  • Once you’re out in the world on the move, you meet a lot more interesting people and opportunities – sometimes you even land some paid work without really trying to!

Read more about Play Projects in the book Screw Work Let’s Play.

Read more about the Screw Work Let’s Play Programme starting Jan 24th.

Posted in How to choose what to do next (Secret 2), How to get started right now (Secret 3)
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  • Caryl

    Thanks for posting this. I’ve had a challenging last year where I’ve been out of work and looking for employment. I’ve used the time to job hunt AND try and figure out what I really love doing. I’ve done this by volunteering, going to classes, chatting to people, researching and going to events. For me it’s been a great year… it hasn’t yielded big results i.e. a great job, lot of money etc… but for the first time in my life I feel like I’m being true to myself. I’ve organised events, learned how to dance, got back into doing music, read lots of interesting books, done fun things. It’s also changed my approach to job-hunting. I’m now focusing on creating an online brand with a website and more. I feel in the long-term it’s beneficial I go through this phase but very few people around me see it that way. I know it means they care but I feel a bit isolated and discouraged. So reading your article re-inforces the fact the a play project is so important in defining what you really love to do. That should be the foundation of a happy and prosperous life! Thanks

  • http://adamwestbrook.wordpress.com/2010/11/12/stuck-on-what-to-do-heres-a-simple-solution/ Stuck on what to do? Here’s a simple solution « Adam Westbrook

    [...] author and career coach John Williams describes how a Play Project can get you out of rut and let you practice doing the work you really [...]

  • http://creativeliberty.wordpress.com/2010/12/08/surfs-up-condensed-top-creativity-links-for-december-8-2010/ Surf’s Up, Condensed: Top Creativity Links for December 8, 2010 « Creative Liberty

    [...] The power of a play project | screw work let’s play John Williams, author of the book “Screw Work, Let’s Play,” describes what a play project is and why it is so good for people needing to recharge their creativity or vocation. The 2 major elements to a play project are picking a 4-week project that will be fun to do and explores an area of work or creativity they feel drawn to, and then setting a non-negotiable deadline to share the results of their project with others. Fun! [...]

  • http://www.lifeskillsswindon.com Frances Barrone

    Fun, play and and self expression opens up our creativity and is not an enemy of our every day normal working life.
    We can learn to let go of the emphasis on productivity and processes and focus on exploring and discovering instead, this can bear richer more fruitful results and add value,meaning and impact to what we do. This is the the new age of work and business and sociao economics. Frances

  • http://laters.mobi/index.php/lean-startup-on-mobile-phone/ A Lean Startup on a Mobile Phone | Laters

    [...] I started out with this app, it was a play project, it was something I developed on the tube on a small underpowered netbook to and from work. [...]

  • http://www.andy-davis.co.uk/?p=78 Andy Davis » Blog Archive » What’s your play project?

    [...] of fun so far to do this approach will always remain for this project. Read all about play projects here March 15th, 2011 in [...]

  • http://tomphilip.me/index.php/lean-startup-on-a-mobile-phone/ Lean Startup on a Mobile Phone | Tom Philip

    [...] I started out with Laters (an Android app for Read it Later), it was a play project, it was something I developed on the tube on a small underpowered netbook to and from work. [...]

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