Want to be More Productive in Life? Take a Break!
Slow down and take a break to bring success and fulfillment to your work situations.
Do you think you spend your time at work running on a hamster wheel? You give your best, work long hours, burn the midnight oil, but there is very little result to show for all your efforts.
Why, despite being overworked and feeling drained, you often not get much done?
If you are currently confused why even after giving your all-in terms of time, effort, and resources, you are not getting much headway in your career or day-to-day work, maybe it is time to give some thoughts to your daily routine.
We are all different from each other in terms of our work habits. While some people look as if they are sailing through life handling their myriad problems, others appear sleepless, burdened, and struggling to get forward in life.
So, what do the high achievers do that ordinary people fail to follow?
The answer might be just a better way of doing things. We all have the same set of hours every day. Some thrive while others get drained — the secret is proper time management that includes short spans of breaks in between.
We humans have excellent intellect and great reasoning power to help us do work that can provide great success and fulfillment in our lives. But unlike machines, we cannot be productive consistently over a while. Heck, even machines get hot if used for a long time. They need to be kept idle to prevent burnout.
To achieve our goals, we often burn candles on both sides, causing a dent in our overall work performance that diminishes our productivity.
As we navigate life at top speed, multitask, and take up more than we can handle, our energy level goes down. If you do not take time to relax or rejuvenate, you are risking burnout.
A study conducted by the University of Illinois claimed that even a brief diversion from a task could improve the ability to focus on work and improves concentration.
Another study proves what we have always known intuitively: taking frequent breaks between your work schedule can calm your jangled nerves, improving your focus and concentration, and increasing your productivity.
The human body can endure a lot as it plows on through life’s challenges till suddenly a time comes when it cannot continue anymore. The trick is to take a break before the body revolts and shuts down, ultimately forcing you to relax.
If you are still not convinced, look at nature. Nature follows a similar path of resting between creation. In the winter months, life in nature slows down to take a breather only to come up brighter and stronger during spring and the summer.
Taking a break can give you the necessary downtime to rest and recharge your bodies and rejuvenate your minds to prepare you for another boost of activity.
How do you take breaks to ensure that your mind and body are working in sync and that you can be productive to your optimum capacity without burning yourself out?
Here are some of the ways you can take a break from your busy schedule to improve your productivity:
1) Slow down
Have you seen how working faster makes you breath quicker, and your entire body moves into a high-stress mode with a fight or flight response? The act of racing through your work with a clenched jaw and a high degree of focus can lead to exhaustion and stress, which will diminish productivity and cause a high degree of anxiety and depression.
Sometimes it is not possible to take a complete break amidst your busy schedule. Taking time to slow down your regular activities might help you relax and de-stress.
Do this by avoiding multitasking and concentrating on one task at a time. Take slow and deep breaths to maintain a calm and relaxed posture and work mindfully to get the most out of it.
2) Take frequent coffee breaks
You can follow the Pomodoro Technique to manage your time effectively. To follow, set a timer of about 25 minutes to entirely focus on your work followed by a 5 mins break to take a breather.
You can set a more extended break of 10–15 mins after every 4 Pomodoro intervals.
Taking frequent coffee breaks prevents boredom, relaxes your tired muscles, and improves productivity.
You can have an easy snack or listen to uplifting music during these short breaks to increase your relaxation during these periods.
3)Exercise
Even if you cannot include a workout routine in your regular schedule, try to move your body by doing some light exercises like yoga or tai chi. Work your body by spot jogging, climbing up and down the stairs, and do some light stretching of those tight muscles in your neck and arms to relax them.
4) Breathe
Often in the frantic rush of everyday lives, our breathing starts to become rapid and shallow. Since ancient times, the monks have stressed deep breathing to bring calmness to the body. If you cannot move away from your work, take some time to relax and concentrate on your breath.
Sit in a relaxed position and take a couple of deep breaths. Concentrate on the rush of air filling up your lungs as you inhale and how on exhale, the air leaves your body, taking out all the stress with it.
Concentrating on the inhaling and exhaling of air will help you refocus your mind in the present moment, allowing you to recharge yourself.
5)Take a Walk
To feel recharged and rejuvenated and alleviate boredom, you can take some time off to go in nature and practice mindful walking. As you walk in nature, allow your senses to become calm and centered while observing your surroundings. Regular spending time outside lets you get things in perspective and gives your mind some respite from overthinking.
6) Meditate
Give your body a boost of relaxation by practicing meditation the first thing in the morning. The mind is at its most receptive state in the early mornings. Take advantage of the calmness around you and meditate right after you wake up. It will relax your mind and put you in a positive mindset to prepare you for the hectic day ahead.
7)Detox Your Body
Our body gets exhausted as we pile in junk and unhealthy food. Sometimes we need to give our digestive system a break by detoxifying our body. To feel fresh and invigorated, detox your body from time to time with intermittent fasting or cleansing rituals with juice and fresh fruits.
Avoid fast food loaded with fats to prevent slowing down your metabolism and sluggishness in the gut.
8)Have a Nap
Our body needs at least 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night to recharge itself. Often, we compromise our sleep to get more things done. Lack of sleep causes drowsiness that affects our productivity.
If you do not get the required sleep at night, squeeze in a nap or two in between your work to feel fresh and alert again. Napping for 10–15 mins during the daytime can compensate for your lack of sleep. It will help you recharge your batteries, refocus and have better memories.
You don’t have to work longer hours to be more productive. Often, taking breaks in between improves productivity and helps you get more done in a lesser time. Take breaks often and utilize them to help you feel calm and relaxed. Improving your daily schedule would help you make the most of your work life.