read the whole thing and watch the linked videos. or you could do what I do. Listen while coding.
Play keeps us in the moment
A spirit of play engages us and brings us into the content and into the moment. Children remind us that we need more play in the classroom, in the lecture hall, and especially in the typical conference presentation. But first we adults must give up the notion that play is not serious. We must abandon the notion that work (or study) and play are opposites. Work and play are inexorably linked, at least the kind of creative work in which we are engaged today and hope to prepare our children for. As Bill Buxton likes to say, “These things are far too important to take seriously. We need to be able to play.”
The opposite of play (and work) is depression
In this TED talk below, Dr. Stuart Brown reminds us that “The opposite of play is not work, it’s depression.” Brown makes many good points concerning the importance of play, not just for children but for all of us. Ironically, the presentation could have been even better if Dr. Brown had interjected more play into the actual talk (like Tim Brown did in his talk on play and creativity), but still the talk is very much worth watching for the issues raised.
via Presentation Zen: The secret to great work is great play.