I read a Straits Times article recently which bemused me. It’s titled “Too Busy to Study and Play? How Scholarship Recipients Find Time for Both”. I do think the tips contained in the article could be useful, and it’s always nice to celebrate the hard—and smart—work put in by a new batch of graduands… But the title is a tad misleading: the emphasis on the article really is on being “an effective student,” as the writer states. I.e. long on the “how to study efficiently,” short on the “play.”

As the writer puts it: “how do some youth excel in their academics and CCAs, and still find time to do volunteer work? And without sacrificing sleep and the use of social media?”

The thing is, where’s the “play” aspect in all this?

Volunteer work is not really play, is it? Sleep is most definitely not play. Social media… jury’s still out on whether this is play, or serves some other human need.

I get that the article’s purpose is to suggest ways to get work done quickly and well, presumably so that this gives you room in your life for play… But it’s telling that the picture of “play” painted in the article—the few times it does actually raise examples of what I’d consider “play”—is uber politically correct and highly coloured by a “be productive (or else)” attitude: the usual reminders to set limits on social media to curb “mindless scrolling” and hobbies like crocheting are mentioned. One young fellow mentions choosing to follow only educational accounts when he does go on social media.

But why should social media be presented as a “guilty pleasure”? Why should everything in life become narrowed down to “educational” and “productive” purposes? What even does “educational” mean?

Crucially, the article does end with a section about the need to “be kind to yourself,” where the people interviewed speak about the importance of not tiring yourself out and “having a fair share of fun.” But—and maybe it’s just me—I still came away curious about what these “high achieving” students’ ideas of “play” are.

What if my idea of “play” is to have a round (or two, or ten) of noisy, utterly pointless FPS action? (FPS = first person shooter = mindless and violent video game!) What if my idea of “play” is to sit in a park with a kaki, and just… chat? Not even chatting for a specific purpose, but just, killing time? What if my idea of “play” is to do nothing?

And I literally mean, do nothing. Just sit in a corner somewhere, with maybe a book on my lap for camouflage (people tend to get worried when they see other people staring into space), and my mind just wandering.

Not wondering about a specific topic (even this could be considered semi-productive). Just wandering.

What if my idea of relaxation is to waste time?

That is to say, what someone else might consider “wasting time.” What if, for me, that half an hour or so of stillness wasn’t a waste, but the mental break I needed? Or not even something I needed, but a luxury I enjoyed? (And what is the world coming to, that wasting time has become a luxury?)

This is what puzzles and—if I’m being fully honest—scares me about the avalanche of exhortations to be productive and efficient nowadays. What if I don’t want to be productive and efficient? Does that make me a lesser human being? Is my value to society decreased?

Actually, I’m pretty certain the standard answer to that is, yes.

Sometimes what matters is not the action taken (by adults and children alike), but the perceived value of the action.

I’m starting to wonder if usefulness, productivity, efficiency, etc. are the parameters and values by which I want to live my life. And I’m certainly concerned about whether these are the parameters by which young people in Singapore are being taught to live their lives.

I see a lot of “competitive productivity” as a teacher. Kids of all motivation levels would fret that they’re somehow doing less than their peers. And as an adult, I sure as heck was fretting about doing less than my peers. I had to—this is literally how teachers are “graded.” Hard work and suffering become a badge of honour; even when I was a student, if something felt easy, I felt uneasy.

I used to joke quite a lot about how I wanted to go on holiday somewhere just so I can aggressively sit and do nothing. What I hadn’t realised was that deep down, I wasn’t joking. I wanted to just sit and dream. Head empty, no thoughts. I still want to.

Hard work is important. Having the grit to endure setbacks and put in the hours is important. Being intentional about what your goals are and how to achieve them (covered succinctly in the article I mentioned; go read it) is super important. But to give the impression that one must be intentional and productive all the time would be like… expecting someone to be eating every waking hour of the day, and not just at mealtimes. There are seasons to everything, even being productive. There are seasons to work, seasons to rest, and seasons to play. (Yes, play is NOT rest!)

I wish the article had gone into a little more detail about how these scholarship recipients “play,” rather than leaving “play” as a vaguely “wholesome feeling” yet amorphous amalgam of crocheting, turning social media into edutainment, and going out with family and friends…

I long for the day when national media outlets interview someone they deem a “successful person,” and this person says they like to spend their time playing video games. Or better still, doing nothing.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m just trying to justify being lazy. But I am quite serious about rethinking the value of play, and of doing nothing, in my life.

And you? What’s your version of play? What’s your version of doing nothing? Leave your comments below!