Each minute of our life is a lesson but most of us fail to read it. I thought I would just add my daily lessons & the lessons that I learned by seeing the people around here. So it may be useful for you and as memories for me.
I strongly believe in the concept of Pause is Power. Like me, People know breaks are helpful, but we don’t always take them. Take your mind off work to give your brain a chance to truly relax.
We are living in competitive world. Competition comes with great pressure and intensity, and it’s important to remind people of the power that can be found in the simple act of a pause, allowing us to come back better and stronger.
Taking break is not a crime. We have to make sure to Prioritise Wellbeing Over Winning.
You don’t want to take breaks because you think you can get more done. But did you? One day you will started realizing that your neck, wrist, and back are hurting, despite being an otherwise health-conscious, active lifestyle advocate.
Remember that, We work best when we adhere to our natural rhythms, which dictate switching between periods of expending energy and periods of renewing energy.
Elite musicians, actors, and athletes know this well enough and rarely practice for longer than 90 minutes in one session. They take breaks between sessions, and rarely work/practice for more than 4.5 hours in any given day.
Basically, microbreaks help you manage your energy resources over the course of the day — and that’s particularly beneficial on days when you’re tired. We Need to Get Serious About Taking Breaks At Work
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…including you.” – Anne Lamott
Science Agrees: More Breaks = Higher Productivity
Many people experience “productivity breakthroughs” after going against their instincts to meet a deadline by taking a pause. We emerge refreshed and more resilient after getting up for both brain and movement breaks.
So, how do breaks help us?
Here’s a quick look at the magic taking breaks does to our brain:
- Improved focus.
- Boosted creativity and problem-solving abilities
- Better information retention
- Improved productivity
- Prevents decision fatigue
- Reevaluate goals and seeing the bigger picture
- Better stress management
Besides the juicy benefits that breaks have on our brains, now what if you can double the benefits?
It’s simple – add movement to your breaks.
For those who get the least amount of physical activity, replacing a half hour of sitting time with physical activity was associated with up to a nearly 50% reduction in mortality, according to a new study from the American Cancer Society.
Breaks are a great opportunity to incorporate movement into our workdays to combat the setbacks of a sedentary lifestyle.
Take a look at the most important benefits of movement breaks:
- Improve energy levels
- Boost mood and relieve stress
- Strengthen weakened muscles and bones
- Reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease
- Reduces the risk of injury
- Boost memory and focus
It’s pretty clear that taking breaks is a powerful tool that can make us better at what we do, feel physically better, and happier.
High-performing people understand the power of taking breaks and know how to take advantage of effective breaks to become more productive while keeping their health in check.
So, how do you harness the power of taking breaks, so that you come back fully recharged both physically and mentally?
Continue reading to find out the strategy that actually works.
How to Work Like an Expert and Maximize Your Productivity
If we want to work like an expert and maximize our productivity, we need to learn from elite performers. Here’s the recipe:
- Work in sprints: Give it all you’ve got for short periods of time. Get as much done during that time as possible. Push hard.
- Take frequent recovery breaks: In-between work sprints you need to recover and replenish some of your energy.
That’s it. You’re either working super hard – deeply focused, fully engaged, highly concentrated, at full speed – or you’re taking a recovery break.
There’s no more in-between. There’s no more ‘doing some work’. There’s no more preserving energy when you’re working. There’s no more half-assed working because you’re tired or whatever. You either work (you’re super productive) or you don’t (you’re taking a break). You’re either expending energy (work sprint) or replenishing energy (recovery break).
That’s working according to your natural rhythms and it’s exactly how the highest performing people in the world do it.
Now, How long should those work sprints and recovery breaks ideally be?
If you want to copy the best, then the ideal length seems to be working for 90 minutes and recovering for 15 minutes. (That way you also adhere to the ultradian rhythm.)
For most people, however, that’s not very practical. You may have a meeting coming up, co-workers interrupting you, or whatever. What’s important is that you either work or recover. Don’t do some half-working/half-chilling stuff.
Sometimes you may have a work sprint that only lasts for 30 minutes. Or one that lasts for 80 minutes. Or heck, even one that goes on for 2 hours. Similarly, some breaks may only last 10 minutes, or 5 minutes, or 40 minutes.
Don’t overcomplicate it. The key is to make waves and follow periods of intense activity with periods of intense recovery. If you work, work hard. If you take a break, recover properly.
Do that and your productivity will go through the roof. There are a few strategies that’ll help you make your work sprints as productive as possible.
1) Give it all you’ve got.
2) Eliminate all distractions
3) Single-task and work on one task, uninterruptedly, for long periods of time
4) Take mini breaks every 30 minutes.
Forcing the brain to stay hyper focused on work throughout the workday lessens productivity. The solution to this is to take regular breaks so you can refresh both physically and mentally several times a day. Doing so will not only make you more productive but help you prevent job burnout too.
Managing breaks at work
Do you know the difference between some of the best tennis players and average tennis players? One difference is that top players are maximizing their recovery between points.
Here the point is that getting the most out of your recovery breaks is crucial if you’re looking to maximize your productivity. Yes, taking any break is better than not taking breaks at all. But there are better and worse ways to spend your time during breaks.
Watching TV, reading the news, or checking your Facebook newsfeed won’t give you the highest possible returns from your recovery breaks.
Instead, you may want to choose one of the following activities:
- Get in nature
- Boost your mood
- Meditate
- Walk or exercise
- Leave the office
- Have a healthy snack/meal
- Have a brief nap (if you’re allowed) – if not, try some deep breathing
- Meditate/daydream
- Do something creative – like a puzzle, or doodling
- Have a coffee or tea
- Create a to-do list for your home-based tasks
It has become increasingly clear that taking breaks at work helps keep you healthy and productive. Both are important for working individuals to continue to do a good job as well as take care of themselves. Burnout at work is a real problem and employees need to be able to practice reasonable self care so things never escalate to that point. Here are just a few of the reasons why taking breaks at work keeps your productivity levels high.
When people think their employer cares about their health, they feel more empowered to freely make decisions about when to take microbreaks and what type of microbreaks to take,And that is ultimately good for both the employer and the employee.
Final Thoughts
While there are many options for breaks at work, individuals are unique and have to find out what works best for them. Try to make a note of what sort of break benefits you the most – if you can continuously make use of it, your motivation and productivity will stay high.
Now I’d love to hear from you. What’s your experience with taking regular breaks at work? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading!
References:
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/
Homepage
https://www.stretchminder.app/post/taking-breaks-at-work-the-ultimate-guide
Please feel free to share your story and any lessons you learned, experienced, you came across in your life in the comments below. If you enjoyed this or any other posts, I’d be honored if you’d share them with your family, friends, and followers!
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Thoughts To Inspire 