A Secret Play Date.

Every Tuesday.

As part of my plan to bring more making into my life and business, as well as more connection to the physical world, I'm spending an hour a week in a Secret Play Date.

A date with play.

You can, too, right here.

Here's how to do it:

Pick a project or a piece of a project.

Maybe it's something that's stalled. Maybe it's something that's been just a gleam in your eye until now.

Take one hour out of your Tuesday to work on it, but not in the traditional way.

We're going to mess around with tactile materials to shift ourselves and our projects. With no special supplies, just whatever's at hand.

If you have art or craft supplies, that's great. But you could also use highlighters, dry-erase markers, wite-out, aluminum foil, food coloring, ketchup ... you see where I'm going with this.

Remember when you were a kid?

It didn't really matter whether you had this or that toy because you used whatever was at hand.

Like that.

Why?

Because I know that switching gears from writing or crunching numbers or formatting a web page can help energize you, help spark new ideas or solutions.

Secret Play Date is a space you can just drop into for an hour, open all day Tuesday.

Part co-working space, part art studio, part secret hide-out.

You can make a Post-It mosaic.

You can make washes of color that describe how you feel about that business plan.

Work on your marketing plan. Your sales copy. Your next event. Your talk.

Why is it secret?

Well, you might work in an office. An office or studio where they would not quite get this. So maybe you sneak off for an hour to a coffee shop with a fistful of colored Sharpies and a glue stick.

At the same time, you're part of a secret society of people who like to inject a little fun into serious business, who like to do a little something with their hands besides tap a keyboard, and who like trying new things to get their creative juices flowing.

We're all doing it on the same day. We're all rooting for each other.

Then what?

In the comments, you can check in to let us know how you're doing, and give a yay for the people who are joining in. You can use this as a format if you like, but you don't have to.

Example:

What I'm working on:

My calendar for next year.

How I'm going to work on it today:

Use some big newsprint paper to make some very sketchy calendar pages. Make symbols on Post-its with marker and glitter glue to represent projects. Cover the draft calendar with them. Take some pics (in case the calendar falls apart).

How it's going:

Great, but running out of glitter glue!

(Your Thing can be much loopier than a calendar, of course.)

On Facebook, you can post to the smArts & Culture wall.

You don't have to share, though.

You could note it in your journal, or whisper it to the cat, and still feel the glow of being part of a group that does things a little differently for an hour every Tuesday.

Since I'm scheduling this post ahead of time, look for my check-in in the comments.

What will you Play-Date today?

P.S. You can take a look at the comments from last week's Play Date, too, for inspiration.