For 15 years, my personal email signature has ended with a simple three-word line:
Live. Work. Play.
I liked the simplicity. It felt balanced. Me.
But recently, I’ve started to wonder if I was missing something deeper.
We often treat these as separate parts of life.
Live = Our personal time, our “real” life.
Work = The productive hours, the place of effort and output.
Play = The reward if there’s time left over.
But what if play wasn’t something that only happened after work and life were handled?
What if play was an integral part of work and life?
My Perspective
Psychologist Brian Sutton-Smith once said:
“The opposite of play is not work. It’s depression.”
That hit me hard.
I see a lot of systems in our lives that have been drained of play.
In fact, play is often discouraged.
Or seen as “messing around” and not getting things done.
We produce lots of output.
Yet, there is very little spark and joy in the busyness of it all.
No wonder burnout, disengagement, and low motivation are on the rise.
We’ve stripped curiosity, creativity, and agency out of so many experiences.
And then we wonder why they feel heavy.
I think it’s time to bring play back and realize it’s how we learn, grow, connect, and find flow.
Maybe this is why I’m so excited and curious as I learn more about gamification.
Gamification reintroduces play into places we’ve made too rigid or too transactional.
Now when I see my tagline, I see inspiration.
Live. Work. Play.
Live with intention.
Work with purpose.
And to make space in both for play.
Not as an escape.
But as the energy that makes my life sustainable and enjoyable.
Your Turn
Do you have enough play in your life?
How could you infuse something playful into your workday?
What might you do this evening to change the monotony of your “rest” time?