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Regular breaks from work can help with your productivity
You already know how important recovery is as part of a fitness regime. The truth is our body can only take so much and needs time to rebuild and come back stronger. The same can be said of your brains! #mindblown So, the next time you’re working long periods – as can happen when working from home – remember to take a break in between meetings and deadlines. Don’t just take our word for this, trust the science!
Setting the scene
Why is it important that you think of this now? Well, there is a significant difference between how you work at the office and working at home. For one, you have dedicated lunch breaks at work. Besides, the hustle and bustle of the office means that there are more distractions that force you to take your eyes of the screen and pause for a bit. This isn’t always the case at home. Sure, the day may have whizzed by but was it really productive?
What can you do?
Well, one of the best ways is to listen to your body. Just like how you know that you’ve pushed yourself too hard with a workout, your body will also tell you if you’ve been working too hard. Keep track to see at which point of the day you’re struggling the most to concentrate. Schedule in a short home exercise or a walk to clear your head during that time.
Juice for the brain
Perhaps you don’t want to push yourself too far before you take the break. One good way would be to set specific working periods by setting an alarm. Use this as your hyper-focus time – avoid your phone, emails, and all. When the alarm goes off, take a break. Get up and get a drink (or just do something else) before going back for another round of work. The Pomodoro technique (also known as the tomato technique) is useful for this. You don’t need to juice the fruit this time though!
A break by any other name
Not all breaks are equal. If you’re going to pause from that report you’re writing only to get bogged down by email, then you might not reap the best benefits. Find something that will distract you from work – listen to some music, do a mindfulness exercise, or spend a few minutes stretching on the yoga mat. Plan your work and day around this so you’re not using your break time to decide what to do. You want to give your brain a rest!
Send yourself to the corner
You know how, as a child, your parents might have made you stand in a corner as a form of punishment? Well, now that you’re an adult, you can adapt that into something beneficial. Set up a separate part of the house where you can go for your breaks so you’ll be forced to get away from work. This is a very physical way of making sure that you don’t get distracted from, well, your break. That’s how important it is!
