“Life is stressful. Play makes it fun.”

The title of this article comes from one of my favourite books, Feel-Good Productivity: How to Do More of What Matters to You, by Ali Abdaal.

It’s a simple quote, yet it resonates deeply with me — and I wonder if it resonates with you as well.

Our generation of adults has no shortage of ways to treat ourselves: from growing up with the Toy Story series, to chasing Pokémon in Pokémon Go, to collecting Popmart figurines like Labubu.
And yet, despite all this, many of us still struggle to associate the idea of play with the seriousness of daily life — especially in an era where we are constantly reminded that we are part of an “ageing population.”

As I continued reading the book, I found myself falling in love with this message: that work can be fun, and that fun can coexist with excellence. Even Nobel Prize winners have spoken about how playfulness contributed to their breakthroughs in serious, high-stakes research. If they can harness play in the pursuit of world-changing work, perhaps ordinary people like us can try it too.

Must teaching and learning always be solemn, disciplined, and joyless?
The iconic teacher in Dead Poets Society would certainly disagree.
So would the legendary GTO teacher from the Japanese drama many of us grew up with.

Education has evolved over the years, especially for children — schools now consciously incorporate different forms of stimulation to help kids engage and learn. But what about the teachers themselves, the people meant to inspire and stimulate others?
Are they having fun at work?

And what about us? How do we bring more play into our everyday jobs?
How do we make a two-hour meeting stimulating instead of stifling?

In my earlier research days, our team played card games during lunch breaks. It was simple, but it worked. It strengthened team bonds naturally, refreshed our minds after food, and sent us back to our desks with better morale and sharper focus.

I’m still grateful for the team leader who created that space for us.

Lately, I’ve been wondering how to bring play back into my own work life. How do I make work feel lighter and more enjoyable for myself?

And just as importantly — how can I make the experience more fun, meaningful, and uplifting for my clients? Can planning for retirement be fun too? Why not?

How about you? How would you do this, to make your life not easier, but at least, more enjoyable?

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About Feel-Good Productivity

Ali Abdaal’s Feel-Good Productivity explores how joy, curiosity, and play can make us more effective than discipline alone. Instead of pushing through with sheer willpower, the book shows how positive emotions fuel creativity, focus, and sustainable momentum. It’s a refreshing viewpoint that doing meaningful work doesn’t have to feel heavy. I highly recommend this book; I purchased the e-book version because I’d love to refer back to it from time to time. For Singapore residents, if you are just exploring it the first time, you can borrow this book on Libby app, the e-book library. You can also search the author on the YouTube channel.

Nope, I’m not affiliated to the author. I simply found this book a gem so I love to share it with you.