Seriously – You Should Laugh More

 We teach people that working playfully is a good idea. It makes work more enjoyable, it raises the sense of safety that provides for space to be creative, and it helps build trust. But many of us still assume that laughter and fun are for after work and that a workplace filled with laughter necessarily means that people must be goofing off and not getting their work done. But the truth is, some workplaces filled with laughter have the healthiest workers and the most productive people!

The August issue of Ode is devoted to the subject of laughter. Ode bills itself as a magazine for "intelligent optimists" and it does its work well! With articles that use laughter to reflect on the nature of God, the nature of what it means to be human, the health and business implications of laughter and lots of other material, the August  issue is a gold mine of information about laughing and a great resource for people who want to work more playfully.

One thing, working playfully or laughing at work is NOT about playing instead of working. It is not about how much you get to not work but rather about HOW you do the work you do.

We know that sometimes you just have to dig in and get the job done – not everything can be fun or funny. But this week, during the centering time that our ARE staff spends together each week we talked about what helps people stick to hard work for the long term and it was agreed that at least one thing that helps is humor. Sometimes, when the work gets too heavy and takes too long, you just have to stop and make space to laugh.

If you still need to be convinced, research shows that laughter and humor can change your work for the better. Here are three reasons taken from an article “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Office” by Nancy Mann Jackson in the August Ode magazine that may help:

1. Did you know that stress is the number one source of workers compensation claims? And one of the easiest antidotes for stress – laughter. When you laugh your blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate all go up. But at the end, they drop off lower than they were before and the effects can last for 45 minutes or longer. If you could find ways to laugh at work once an hour as a goal, you could stay relaxed and lower stress levels for the whole day!
2. And one of the key ingredients to an effective workplace is the ability to form teams of people who trust each other, communicate well, and get along. Laughter is a social lubricant – it brings people together and creates a place where positive relationships can be explored and formed. The truth is, many talented teams have failed to do all they could because they never found ways to get along and work together. Laughter and play bond people. When the A.R.E. team was coming together, differences in priorities and work styles caused some bumps along the way. But our practice of getting together for staff teambuilding time where we just enjoy being together has made tolerance, understanding and compassion grow and the result is a stronger team.
3. Fun makes a place for people to think differently and explore creatively. Often the most creative ideas come not when people are grinding through things hoping to see something they missed. They come when people are open to thinking a bit of craziness and the space is there to toss an idea out on the table and see what happens – almost like a game. People who are having fun can stay engaged in tasks longer and have more creativity.

There is a lot of social pressure and history from our Protestant work ethic to consider work and fun to be exclusive of each other. You work first and when your work is done you play. But your church, agency or business might find that it is time for a change. It can’t all be fun all the time. But if it is never fun any more, you may not be doing the right thing or at least may not be doing it the right way. Your best work is no laughing matter but it just might be laughter that helps you do your best work.