On the Benefits of a Break

Did taking a break from writing and Medium aid my overall process?

As the pandemic was drawing on last summer, I found myself beginning to be burnt out in a number of ways. Like many people suddenly confronted with the abyss of work-less free time, I immediately seized upon the opportunity and began as much creative work as possible — music videos, songwriting, production, guitar, writing, etc. It all would eventually begin to weigh on me.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Seizing upon such an opportunity was what most of us really needed to rediscover who we were. There was a point, however, where I began to feel almost overwhelmed at the number of things I had put on my plate. This was where I began to discover the proper way forward and how I would need to readjust my thinking in order to maximize my productivity.

It was around this time that I began to take a break from my writing on Medium. I was having difficulty coming up with ideas and following through with them. Even worse, at times I would come up with ideas that would entrench me in writing for weeks before I would finally call it quits on a project. Writing was something I loved doing, and I had been building up a network on Medium for almost a year — so why was I having trouble completing and publishing work?

After I took some time, the answer came quite simply to me.

What I needed more than anything was just a break. Honestly, if you’re having trouble with any of your creative work, then what you might need is a break as well. I don’t believe that it’s so much of difficulty of a project that makes us need to take that time away, but our brains are not infallible organs, despite what they are capable of. Sometimes those engines just need to be powered down to rest up and re-purpose that adaptability.

Anecdotally, when I was about 8 years old, I remember taking a break from playing chess with my grandfather. I loved playing chess as a kid and, to be honest, there were not any ridiculous reasons I took a break from playing. Before I took that break, I could not beat my grandfather at chess for the life of me. After about a year of not playing, however, I came back and beat him within the first five games of our playing together again.

Neither of us could believe it, and least of all myself. He was upset that I’d won, and I justified it by saying that “when I was rusty, I was sharper.” Well, there actually might be some science behind such a thought.

Your brain, as we discussed earlier, is only a mortal instrument and, therefore, will work the same way as a muscle. Similar to how runners will not run marathon-lengths over and over before a big race, a brain must not be run, over and over, before a big test, if you will, or an essay. In the same vein as a muscle, your brain needs to rest. Your subconscious does plenty of work while learning a task, and sometimes it needs to catch up to your working, or applied, memory in order to add meaning to what might seem like purposeless doing.

If you do not allow your brain to catch up in such a way, then you might just feel you are going through the motions on whatever task you are looking to accomplish, or whatever skill you are looking to develop. Last summer, I was feeling burnt out from the pandemic, from the many endeavors I had put myself up to, and the sheer amount of writing, with a lack of ideas, that I was attempting to accomplish. I didn’t want to lose the networks I had built, but I couldn’t go on any longer at that pace. It was time for a break.

It was also during this time that I worked on my Graduate degree. I knew I would be gaining experience in writing, but I also knew I would need to make an adjustment and eventually work my way back to Medium. It wasn’t goodbye — it was “I’ll see you soon.” I just hoped that everything would be where I needed it to be when I returned.

All of this to say, that if you find it necessary to take a break on something that is giving you a hard time, then this is your sign to do so. Whether that be a relationship, creative endeavor, writing project, or even something from work — if you cannot think properly and put the energy towards it you know is necessary, then giving your brain a break might be exactly what you need.

With all that being said, I am so glad to be in the swing of writing again, and I am looking forward to sharing more pieces on Medium as my productivity begins to ramp up again. It might take me a bit to catch up, but hey, I’m sharp when I’m rusty!

Respectfully,

Gabrielknowseverything