Here’s a brief, but important article on taking small breaks and the importance it can have on your well-being and productivity (no matter how ironic that may sound to some of you).
Procrastination?
Research from among others Harvard and Colombia University has shown that small breaks are important. “Mini-vacations” some call it. A “breathing break”, some might say. Procrastination? Well, workaholics may term it that.
Whatever you want to call it, there are clear indications that small breaks, where we close out everything external and just let us be with our own thoughts, can both boost productivity as well as happiness. In fact, a few minutes break every now and then can help you boost your total productivity way more than to recoup the minutes you did not work.
It’s often the case that our thoughts often become messier and messier the more we are thinking. More and more thoughts fill up and take place in our mind throughout the day. And when that happens we get fatigued. We lose focus. We experience a related unstable mood. We get frustrated and achieve little progress.
Sign out
By putting your mobile in flight mode and turn off the PC and TV, then we give our brain a chance to reset for a bit. To sit in silence and let our thoughts wander wherever they may wander can have an array of positive effects. Brain scans of those who regularly meditate even show physical changes in the brain!
The app called Calm on iPhone has become popular for a reason, and was chosen by Apple as its “iPhone app of the year” in 2017. Simply put, it’s a health and fitness app that provides soundtracks and guides for meditation, as well as routines to help you sleep. I particularly enjoy the “Timed Meditation” where I will listen to natural sounds such as the ocean, waterfalls and nature for 10 minutes and just let my mind flow away.
Some would suggest using a Pomodoro-like technique where you typically work for 25 minutes and then take a 5 minute break. That may work for some, however for me the breaks needs to come more naturally when I personally feel like it — I’m not a robot. If forcing myself to those increments, I would just sit there during the 5 minute break thinking about what to do for the next work session.
But, we’re all different and unique, so you gotta figure out what works for you.
Anyways, we got a tendency to come up with new solutions to old problems when we are not interrupted by external factors. Our creativity awakens when we don’t put our attention towards the constant stream of impressions we meet every day. Thoughts organize easier, gets forgotten easier, and completes more often — when it’s the only thing we are focused on.
You may also like: I Quit Blogging & Social Media for 4 Months: The “Why” & The Unexpected Results
Some final words
So, whatever how your workday may look like, do take breaks. And when you take these breaks, just make sure you take real breaks. Seek silence. Seek reflection.
Another interesting read is from Harvard Business Review where they argue that, in order to be more creative, you should schedule your breaks. It also gives an interesting outlook on the importance of “task-switching” when dealing with creativity. I’m not going to ramble on about that one, but it’s well worth a read.
Anyways, so this concludes this brief article (maybe I took too long breaks writing it?!).
Jokes aside, I hope you will consider taking proper breaks in your daily routine to boost your happiness and productivity. Also, if you aspire to become more productive, then consider reading my old (but gold) blog post “The 14 Answers to All Your Time Management Problems”.
Cheers,
Jon
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