Deep Play

Deep Work, a term coined by Cal Newport, is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. On the other hand, there’s deep play, a concept similar to deep work but focused on play.

Deep Play in this case is restorative rest that makes us feel reenergized and reinvigorated. Many of history’s most productive people incorporated deep play outlets into their lives like how Winston Churchill painted in his leisure time or how Haruki Murakami runs everyday.

Like deep work, deep play is a skill that we can improve at.

A few of my deep play outlets include writing and weight lifting. I’ve also been flirting with the idea of returning to video games as a form of deep play.