Plenty of research exists to confirm that we need regular breaks to reset and refocus to increase our effectiveness. The part that is often ignored tells us that activity and even some structure during breaks make the break more enjoyable and rewarding and make our resulting effectiveness, well…more effective!
Because so many of us are trying to squeeze more and more productivity out of every minute of the day, we’re increasingly busier, burned out, and stressed out. When we have a few minutes to rest, our natural, prehistoric human inclination is to become “one with the couch”. This is not what I mean by an “active” break.
Active breaks look like this:
- Finally reading that urgent, important article of great interest from two weeks ago
- Clearing out the backlog of email and other unread messages
- Proactively re-filling the stapler and printer paper tray
- Cleaning out old paper and digital files to improve structure and remove clutter
- Starting your day later to have time for that morning workout routine
- Taking a quarter, half, or full day periodically to run those weekday, business hour errands
- Taking a half or full day occasionally to catch up on work-related reading and learning
- Attending conferences, seminars, and other professional development workshops for your OWN learning and growth
- Regular vacations with scheduled activities with your family and friends
Active breaks are not sitting on the couch scrolling social media, binging the latest shows, and snacking all day. In fact, these things are consistently proven to DECREASE our effectiveness, no matter how comforting they may be.
If the point of rest is to reset to get better, remember the old maxim: momentum FOLLOWS action.
Active breaks get us on the right track to generating forward momentum in all those neglected, but critically important, areas. When is your next active break?
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