Tell a workaholic: Play isn't just good for your health — it could improve your work output.

Why it matters: Taking play breaks can reduce stress, strengthen teamwork, and boost creativity and problem-solving, research suggests.

The big picture: Play enables better work.

• Being in a high-pressure, serious state can put your brain into a fear mode that shuts down cognitive functioning, says Piera Gelardi, Refinery29 co-founder and author of the forthcoming book "The Playful Way" (out in April).
• "Whereas when we're in a playful state, we're in a more exploratory, open-minded, experimental place, and that's usually where solutions come from," she says.

Zoom out: Meanwhile, "play deprivation" could be linked to negative mental health outcomes, according to Stuart Brown, clinical researcher and founder of the National Institute for Play.

Adding some play to your workday can look like:

• Stepping away to doodle for a few minutes.
• Listening to your favorite song — without scrolling on your phone.
• Going for a walk to seek awe in the outdoors.

To find more opportunities to play, identify the grown-up version of the thing you loved as a kid, Gelardi says.

• If you spent hours dressing up dolls, explore your personal style now.
• If playing house made you lose track of time, people-watch and imagine their backstories.
• If you thrived on sports teams, build more movement into your day.

Carly's thought bubble: My two favorite play activities are...

• Going to movement class or another kind of sober dance party.
• Running around the house with my curious, energetic toddler.

If play helps us think better at work, the next question is: How can you have a playful mindset on the job?

In her book, Gelardi lays out distinct play-at-work styles:

1. The curious quester

• Strength: Asks great questions.
• One way to "play" at work: Turn projects into experiments and treat setbacks as data, rather than failure.

2. The mundane alchemist

• Strength: Makes boring work engaging.
• One way to "play" at work: Give meetings a clever name and gamify tedious tasks.

3. The visionary dreamer

• Strength: Has a big-picture imagination.
• One way to "play" at work: Ask "What would need to be true for this to happen?" and lead bold brainstorms.

The bottom line: Playful strengths aren't distractions from serious work — they make you better at it, Gelardi says.

More play modes

Parkour — the sport that went from an outlaw, fence-hopping subculture to a joke on "The Office"— became one of the fastest-growing fitness class categories in the U.S. last year, according to ClassPass.

Why it matters: The sport all about moving freely through space has gone mainstream, which means even this reporter tried it out.

• And it is thrilling.

What they're saying: Parkour is "everything I used to do as a kid that I was told not to do," says Christian Elijah Mayo, owner and operator of parkour gym Fr3running Society in Los Angeles.

How it works: At Fr3running Society, you wipe your shoes on a sticky mat, then step into a vast, industrial space — a maze of wood platforms, metal pipes, black mats and rock-climbing walls.

• For my class, the equipment was arranged into stations for drilling specific movements.
• The section that made my eyes widen: You had to leap from a block to catch a bar, then swing your body through the air, and finally release and land on a raised platform that looked very, very far away.

I was scared. And said as much. But Mayo brushed it off.

• He recommended breathing through it, and continuing to expose myself to more challenging scenarios — like higher jumps and swings — in a controlled environment. That helps "sharpen the blade in your brain" and expand your comfort zone, he said.
• My nerves didn't go away, but after swinging and not jumping, I finally did let go. I barely made it.

I was euphoric. Sure, it feels good to do any kind of workout, but this was different.

• I felt myself pushing physical limits — and tapping into a kind of play I hadn't experienced in years. It ended in a game of tag, for goodness' sake.

Yes, but: Writing this days later, my palms are blistered, my shins bruised, I can barely put my hair in a ponytail because my arms are so sore, and I think I tweaked my ankle. At 36, I'm feeling especially old today.

• Mayo says that done over the long-term, though, parkour functions as an injury-prevention class because it strengthens smaller muscles and tendons. I'll see how I feel next week.

My state of play: I will definitely be back soon — first, with my toddler for more "ninja tots" classes.