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How often do you take a break? Are you sure?
By Scott Fusco | October 1, 2007
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How often do you take a break?
I made a neat discovery a year or so ago - that a break is simply when you stop doing what you are doing and do something else. It doesn’t mean that you have to lie down or rest, you just do something else.
Usually I feel like taking a break as a result of either physical exhaustion or mental stress. If it is physical exhaustion, then I can rest. But if it is mental stress, then I can simply do something easier.
For example, if I am reading something that is really dense and the reading is going very slowly, then I might just pick up a Dr. Seuss book and laugh a little bit. And it just eases the tension and sets me up to going back to what I was doing earlier.
If you are heavily vested in personal development like I am, then likely you are reading potentially life-changing books on a daily basis. This is great, but it can get stressful if you try and push things too quickly. Even if you move slowly, it can be challenging to read some of these books just because they are really dense and they make you really think about things.
If you feel your brain getting cluttered, take a break. Do something else. Maybe you don’t have to completely lie down and rest. You might be able to clean the house or do something else that is productive.
If you tune in and listen to your body, you will know when you have to rest vs. taking a break.
Also start becoming aware of how doing these things affects your emotional state. If you are feeling emotionally stressed and continue to push yourself, what happens to your emotional state?
I have learned of myself that my emotional state is the #1 most important factor in my productivity. If I am feeling stressed out, then I don’t feel like doing any work at all. And sometimes you can avoid a situation like this altogether if you just take a break when your body tells you to.
So for me, the cost of failing to take a break when my body tells me to is often much higher on my emotional state (and therefore my productivity) than if I were to try to continue barreling through what I was doing.
So for me, my emotional state is directly proportional to my productivity. The same is probably true for you. Play around with it and make a conscious effort to become more aware of it.
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Topics: Awareness-Consciousness, Emotional Intelligence, Intuition, Logic-Intelligence, Personal Development, Productivity, Time Management |
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Terrific post. My wife and I found that going to the gym was a break for us. We run two companies and are always on the go. Going to the gym is work but fun and relaxing work.
Martin
Posted by: Martin Saenz on November 24th, 2007 at 12:30 pmtoolkitforsuccess