Every morning, around 1,000 minutes are credited to your account, and you must spend them before you fall asleep. That is the time between opening your eyes in the morning and laying your head on the pillow at night. Let’s put it on paper: 100 circles, each representing 10 minutes. When you look at such a sheet, instinct tells you to fill them in. And you do.
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You colour in the circles one by one with a pen: logistics, CAD revisions, a site meeting, emails, photos of the latest project that need to go on your Instagram profile, invoices. The sheet turns into a wall of duties. But imagine you have an orange highlighter in your pocket. A tool that allows you to discover something. Take it out and, for now, mark just four of the hundred circles. Forty minutes, which we will return to in a moment.
The Problem of Leftovers
First, let’s talk about why colouring in orange is crucial. Jens Bo Thorsager, a playground designer, spoke with Marcin Girzejowski on the Homo Ludens by Buglo podcast about a phenomenon that could be called “the problem of leftovers”. In the investment process, buildings are usually constructed first, and what remains around them—the leftover spaces—is allocated to playgrounds. A similar mechanism is unconsciously applied to ourselves. We devote what is left over to practising curiosity—Frank Gehry’s inspiring be curious. The problem is that in adult life, curiosity does not happen on its own; it has to be planned
The Orange Highlighter Ritual
That is exactly what the orange pen is for. Circles marked with it, if they appear regularly on your daily sheets, will become a ritual. This may be the time when, together with us in the Homo Ludens by Buglo videocast, you open the door to anthropology, psychology, neurobiology, law, and technology. In the episode Risk, Movement and Learning: The Secret of Scandinavian Playgrounds, you will discover, among other things:
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how motor skills are connected to learning to read,
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how aesthetics limit vandalism,
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why open space for children encourages chaos and conflict,
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what the concept of “outdoor rooms” is about.
Verbs Instead of Nouns
What would a playground designed by you look like after listening to the conversation with Jens Bo Thorsager? In everyday work, we often focus on nouns: walls, steps, benches. But the idea of Homo Ludens—the playing human—reminds us of verbs. A child sees the same objects differently. A wall is not a barrier, but something to sit on, jump onto, jump over, and walk along (do you remember walking along walls?).
We invite you to a discussion about how, in a world full of nouns, to create space for… verbs. Visit our YouTube channel and listen to Homo Ludens by Buglo. Three episodes are waiting for you. The orange circles are already in your daily plan.
For more information, visit the company's BUGLO page on the A&B portal.
