‘The power of fun’

By Sherif Attar

In a world of ever-changing ambiguity and uncertainty, executives have to face two challenges: excellent performance and people development. Where many managers think those endeavours are “competing”, this author believes they are “completing”. GET DOWN TO BUSINESS argues.

In our continuous search for ‘fun’, we check key elements from Catherine Price book “The Power of Fun”:

1. Fun can bring you back to life.

When’s the last time you felt exhilarated, lighthearted, and free? As we approach our second anniversary of pandemic living, this might seem like a mean question. If you want to come back to life, you need to have more fun.

I’m not talking about “fun” in the cheapened sense of the word. I’m talking about fun in its purest, most transcendent form – the type of fun that leaves you feeling joyfully alive. I refer to this as True Fun, and it occurs when we experience the confluence of three psychological states: playfulness, connection, and flow.

By “playfulness,” I mean a spirit of lightheartedness and freedom – of doing something just for the pleasure of it, and not caring too much about the outcome. By “connection,” I’m referring to the feeling of having a special, shared experience with someone (or something) else. And “flow” is a term used in psychology to describe the state of being fully engaged and focused, often to the point that you lose track of time.

2. Recognise – and avoid – Fake Fun.

“Fake Fun” is activities and products that are marketed as fun but don’t produce feelings of playfulness, connection, or flow – such as social media, or watching TV. Much like junk food, Fake Fun gives us a quick fix of pleasure but ultimately doesn’t make us feel good. Instead, we’re often left feeling vacant, lonely, anxious, unfulfilled, or numb. Fake fun is very easy to identify. Just pay attention to how the things you do “for fun” actually make you feel. Do they leave you energised and alive? If so, they’re sources of True Fun. If they leave you feeling empty and numb, then they’re Fake Fun, and not worthwhile.

3. Having fun is good for our health.

There is plenty of research about the benefits of playfulness, connection, and flow. All three have been found to be good for mental and physical health.

A lot of these benefits have to do with stress. When we’re faced with a perceived threat – whether physical or emotional – our bodies produce stress hormones in response, including one called cortisol. The problem with cortisol is that when its levels remain elevated over time, as they do when we’re facing constant emotional stress, these same effects are harmful. Chronically elevated cortisol levels have been associated with increased risks for all sorts of health problems, including type 2 diabetes, heart attack, stroke, heart disease, depression, fertility issues, and dementia.

4. Break up with your phone.

If you’re not in flow, then you can’t have fun. Flow is a state of being completely engaged and present. It requires us to be entirely focused, so if you are at all distracted, you cannot be in a state of flow. If you scan your life for the biggest source of distractions, it’s likely to be your phone.

Figure out what you want to be doing with your time. Check activities, people, and settings that generate the most fun for you, and prioritise them. Chances are, it’s going to feel better than your phone.

5. Your life is what you pay attention to.

If our goal is a meaningful and joyful existence, both in the long term and in the day-to-day, understanding the importance of our attention is only the first step. Next we must decide, what do we want to pay attention to?

We all want lives that are filled with meaning, happiness, satisfaction, and joy – but we don’t know how to get there, like drivers who are so focused on the road ahead that the scenery rushes by in a blur. We listen to podcasts about success, read books about productivity, and install time-tracking apps. We pursue control and agency through endless attempts at self-improvement, hacking away at our supposed problems so that some distant day, we might be happy.

But we are not problems that need to be fixed. We are lives that want to be lived. Living does not suddenly start when we achieve inbox zero, or win an argument on social media, or earn a promotion. It happens in every moment – it is happening right now.