I stumbled upon this idea while listening to “People I mostly admire”, one of favorite podcasts, where its host Steve Levitt interviewed Dan Gilbert, the famed psychologist professor at Harvard. You can read its transcripts here, and listen to the podcast below:
Dan raised this idea that if you turn work into play, then you do not work at all. Instead, it is all play. Here is what he said:
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GILBERT: I would say that the reason I put so much time and effort into my teaching is because I’m lazy. And lazy people don’t like to work. Somewhere very early on in life, right around the time I dropped out of high school, I think, I decided I never want to work again. All I want to do is play. And what I discovered is that to the extent that you put your whole self into almost any task — even if it’s washing the dishes — it stops being work and it starts becoming play. I wonder if I can wash the dishes by holding them in my right hand and scrubbing with my left hand. Is it faster if I do it that way? Is there an interesting way to stack them so that they dry faster rather than slower? Anything that you are creative and playful with is a joy. So, I have to teach. It’s part of my job. I could go into the classroom and spend 10, 15 hours a week doing drudgery. Or I could spend double that amount of time having the time of my life. And so, I do. The short answer to your question is putting your entire self into things turns it into joy. And lazy people like to have more joy than work.
LEVITT: So, you were the first person I’ve ever heard say so succinctly this idea that a 100% focus is associated with joy, no matter what the task. It’s implicit in a lot of, like, Eastern philosophies of enlightenment and stuff like that. I think you’re probably right. And yet in my own life, I don’t do very much of that. What is wrong with me that’s not wrong with you? How did you figure this out?
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So I simplify his point a bit and came up with this equation:
100% focus = Joy
Reflecting on my own experience, I agree with Dan whole-heartedly. But to me it requires a pre-recognition, a pre-commitment, and some strategic thinking. First, I need to tell myself that I am going to focus on doing this particular task at hand. And I am going to go “all in”. In other words, I need to commit myself to this activity, even though it may be hard. Lastly, I need to spend some more time thinking about how to turn this activity into fun one.
Having learned this formula and reached the three steps above, I will put into practice more. Hopefully, as Dan said, it will be no work and all play.