Play in the workplace reduces stress

By Troy Bannerman - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on March 2, 2023.

Herald photo by Troy Bannerman Matt Leong, at right, watches participants during a game of catch as part of the Play Summit, hosted earlier this week at the Lethbridge Public Library.

Matt Leung believes a person is never too old to play.

Leung, who was the keynote speaker during a Play Summit at the Lethbridge Public Library on Tuesday, encourages play, and stresses the importance of adopting play in the workplace.

“I specialize in talking about the importance of play,” Leung said during the Summit. “Not just the importance of play for children, as we usually think about it, but how impactful play can be across the lifespan, including adults.”

Leung said play is more than just something people do, it is a mindset and another way to approach life.

“It’s something that helps us be more creative. It helps us be us. It helps us be more resilient, flexible, and adaptive as things change around us.”

It also helps reduce stress and may, in the long run, even help people become more productive.

“There’s so many projects piled up off the side of your desk, everything feels more important than the last. It’s important that we remember that when we take that little bit of time to support ourselves in some sort of playful activity, or approach someone in a playful way, that we are actually going to save time because we are going to reduce our stress levels, we’re going to increase our own mental health, and that is going to be a big, big, big factor in us being able to go about our day-to-day lives in a more productive way.”

Leung said statistics suggest 10 per cent of a person’s time at work is lost because of stress, so even in a busy and time-crunched workplace, taking time to “play” is important.

“We do, so often, take things so seriously; and not to say that there are not important serious aspects of implications to all of our respective work, but we don’t do ourselves any favours if we’re always approaching it from that serious standpoint. We need the opportunity to be able to clear our own heads, make sure that we are able to take a step back and reflect so that we can be the best version of ourselves, even if our jobs demand that more serious attitude.”

During the Summit, Leung taught participants how to use play and a playful mindset in their workplaces, which will help them become better communicators and leaders, and be more empathetic to their coworkers and customers. He also stressed the importance of supporting play within the family.

“I believe that when you are talking about families, that it is so critical for the adults to be supportive, and when the time is right, to be involved in play with kids. Because I think that advocating for kids to play is important, but if those kids see the adults in their life not participating in those playful activities themselves, somehow they are going to understand that they are going to grow up to stop playing. So families need to play together, adults need to play, and they need to be able to role model what those playful behaviours are so that kids can continue to understand the importance of that throughout their life.”

Leung noted it is also important municipalities embrace play for healthy communities.

“I am really, really, thrilled that Lethbridge, as a whole city, is embracing this play movement. Something like play can be seen as trivial, it can be seen as not the most important thing, but when a municipality the size of Lethbridge comes together and says, ‘You know what? We’re going to embrace this at a multi-sectoral level,’ it gives more credibility and it helps more people right down to the individual family understand how important it is.”

Leung, a public speaker who works with companies and communities to promote play policies and events in the workplace and community, was invited to speak at the Play Summit by a local organization, Lethbridge Plays, a collaborative group which encourages play in the workplace, through policies and events, as a way to mitigate workplace stress.

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