I have spent a lot of my life worrying about being ‘productive.’ I think a large part of that comes from this ‘hustle culture’ that we’re all so caught up in–we’re such a money centric culture here in the States (and probably most places) that everything tends to go back to how you can earn income. There’s this push to monetize your hobbies, or to use your free time to find ways to make (or save) money. It’s hard not to feel like I should be doing something all the time, and that the thing I should be doing all the time should sort of translate to money.

I’m the first to admit that I am contributing to ‘hustle culture’–just two days ago, I talked about my plan to create some sort of guide to literary magazines to sell. But I like to think that I’ve got some good balance going on these days, in a way that I didn’t before.

I’m not a huge fan of ‘Shondaland,’ but I did enjoy this TEDTalk from a few years ago where she talks about the importance of play in maintaining her creative drive. For her, that means literally playing with her kids. For me, that means watching a dumb TV show or playing a merge game on my phone. Those are the things that free my brain up to keep being creative.

How do you play?

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