At some point in adulthood, the amount of time we spend working or thinking about work gets out of control. Don’t you feel like your days are endless when there’s too much to do at the office? Or maybe, there is no space for resting until the project is finally done? You might be aware that it doesn’t make much sense, or that it doesn’t go along with the meditation apps and wellness lifestyle you want to live, but you can’t truly fight it. We’ve all read about the many benefits of having breaks, but how can we start doing it?
We want it all, and that’s okay. We want a successful career, a happy relationship, and a healthy, aesthetically pleasing Instagram-perfect lifestyle. But you need to admit, at least at this moment, just between you and me, that achieving all of that is very hard.
We rush to have it all and end up with broken versions of most of what we want. We create the LinkedIn profile, land the job, and give our all to it. And, at the end of the day, there is no more of us to give… not to the other areas of our lives, neither more to our valued jobs.
How Can We Have Balance?
How can we have picture-perfect lives, with the amazing job and partners? Well… you can start by giving yourself room to grow in every area and putting the boundaries you need so your job doesn’t consume you like a wildfire does to a dry forest.
You need to slow down a little and give room to yourself. You’re more than one area of your life, and even if you have one prioritized, it can’t be all. You just need to rest sometimes. To get back up in the mornings and be able to do it all again.
Let’s be honest if you felt drawn to this article you probably have trouble taking breaks or know someone who has. You might be reading it to convince yourself that it is good for you although it makes you a little guilty because you are not being productive, or maybe it is to find the arguments to convince someone else that it is not a waste of time.
We move so fast that time is our enemy, the one that seems to always fall short of all we want to do. Until we are so exhausted, we can’t do anything anymore
ENERGY, Energy, energy
Every once in a while, I wake up full of energy. So much so, that my friends keep coffee away from me so I don’t explode. This so-called energy is also the day I get less done. But why? Why is that day so unproductive? well… For starters, that energy is not from a well-rested and recharged battery.
Usually, on days like that, I wake up feeling anxious, so I try to multitask and do all at once and take the most out of my apparent energy. When I am feeling anxious, I never stop, and that feeds my anxiousness into a never-ending loop of chaos.
But don’t worry about me, I am aware of it now and found many ways to cope with it. One of those, and I would dare to say it is in my top three: recharging… I can’t stress enough how good it can be for you to rest effectively.
And let me tell you something, resting is not only a Sunday morning thing, you can do it daily and it is even recommended to do so during your workday. Don’t worry, you will still get lots of work done, and perhaps even more if you take a break. Here is why:
Reduce Stress
Once I thought, how can taking a break can reduce my stress if the feeling of not having enough time to complete my tasks is my biggest stressor? And, surprisingly it did help with my stress. I was already paralyzed by my fear and being clumsy because of my stress.
So taking a break for me was using the time I was wasting to put myself together.
Taking breaks gives your mind and body a chance to relax. A chance that gets lost within the workday routine, under the pile of unanswered emails, or beyond the third meeting of the day; we are not used to leaving space for it, so you will have to make the space by taking a break.
This can help you to come back to your work feeling refreshed and ready to focus. It can feel like a breath of fresh air, or eating an ice cream on a hot summer day. Breaking the stressful day by taking a time out, is relieving.
Boost Creativity
When I am feeling blocked and like there is no solution to a problem I’m trying to solve, or like there is no more to say about something I am doing, I get up from the chair and go towards the closest window for five minutes.
Doing something as simple as refilling my water bottle and staying a couple of minutes sitting by the kitchen just watching people pass can change my mindset and break the shell where my creativity was hidden.
Taking breaks gives your mind a chance to wander and come up with new ideas. When you come back to your work after a break, you may be able to see things from a new perspective and come up with creative solutions to problems.
It is like when you are about to sleep and suddenly you are as prolific a poet as Dickinson or Poe, but only past your bedtime, and you ask yourself, why? And it’s in these not-thinking moments where we have the truest space to let our minds create. Don’t force it, take a break, put your mind elsewhere for a moment.
Enhance Focus
Have you ever stared at the board so long that your sight stops focusing and you can’t see anything anymore? Sometimes we are so focused on our task that we lose sight of it. We get so obsessed with making it right that our vision tunnels and we miss some details. And we end up making mistakes that might be easy to avoid.
Just like when your sight stops focusing on the board, the answer is in looking elsewhere before trying to refocus on the same spot. Taking a break can also help you to reduce errors by preventing you from making mistakes due to fatigue or stress.
When you take breaks, you give your mind and body a chance to rest and recover, which can help you to avoid making careless mistakes.
When you take breaks, you give your mind a chance to rest and recharge. This can help you to come back to your work with renewed focus and concentration. Once you get back, you might even be able to see from a new perspective that gives you insight into all the cool things you could do with the task at hand.
Promote Healthy Habits
Employers these days are a little too invested in productivity. We even want to make our breaks productive, which is nice if you mean something like socializing, stretching or cleaning your desk, anything other than working on your break, or worse, during lunchtime.
So, taking breaks during your workday becomes a statement and a boundary that you are setting with yourself to protect yourself from the unhealthy imbalance that can spread outside and become a work-life balance issue.
Taking a break every once in a while during the day can be an opportunity to install a bit more activity into your desk job day, perhaps you can stretch in those minutes.
No matter what you do during your break, the fact that you drive yourself to take one is a step toward a healthier life, you will feel better after, once you see the impact it has on you. Sometimes, taking a break becomes a mental health matter, and you should take that seriously.
Increase Job Satisfaction
And of course, talking about burnout… avoiding it automatically increases your job satisfaction. Sure, a not-so-great job is always a stressor. But hey, taking breaks gives your job a fighting chance. By doing this, you’ll know whether it is a wrong fit or you are just tired of carrying an unsustainable lifestyle.
Refreshing your mind can help you make more sound choices, including whether you like your job enough to stay or you need a change.
Taking breaks can also help to make you feel more valued and appreciated by your employer. Show your employer that you’re committed to your work and always take care of yourself. That’s always positive for your performance.
This can help you to feel more positive about your job and your work environment. Stressful days usually shadow good jobs. That’s why cleaning your lenses, and resting your eyes a little bit is important. Don’t get caught up in the productivity trap.
Sometimes taking control means something as simple as saying I’ll get back to this project in ten, I’m going to take a small break.
So, what are you waiting for to turn your days around?
Check out more of our blog posts on mental health to learn everything that you need to know to have a healthier work-life balance.
