If you're taking a break, make sure it's actually rejuvenating
Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's tip is to take breaks intentionally. We are going to take breaks during the workday, whether we plan to or not, so it pays to take them mindfully. That way, you will be aware that you actually took breaks and probably be more refreshed as a result. I recently ran a Better Workday challenge, during which I taught participants strategies for making their workdays more pleasant. One of these strategies was to take intentional breaks. The idea is that for ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes in the afternoon, you pause your work, step away from your screen and do something totally different. Maybe you go to the break room and chat with your work best friend, or make a cup of peppermint tea. Maybe you work on a crossword puzzle, or you might just go outside and take a few breaths of fresh air. Whatever it is, the point is to shift your focus and do something that will refresh you. This all sounds good, but some Better Workday Challenge participants soon realized that there was a fine line between being on a break and just being off task. This especially happened when the person was doing something not work related but at their computer. You know how this goes. Maybe you start by hopping over to a weather website to see whether your evening's softball practice is likely to be canceled, and then you find yourself on a sporting goods website searching for softball cleats like the one your friend has. Or maybe you go to link to see whether a college friend is still working at the accounting firm that your company just hired for your audit, and then you end up writing a note to congratulate another friend on her new job, and then reading several articles too. Are those breaks? I would argue that they mostly are in the sense that they aren't part of your job. But they are not the sort of breaks that will restore you for the rest of the day. They don't feel that different from your work. You might not even notice that you took those breaks, and so you can create a story of having zero time to relax. So how do you avoid mindless breaks like these? One general policy might be that if you are not working, step away from your screen if you possibly can, don't pass this potential break time by looking at your personal email or news headlines, or by internet shopping. Leave your workspace, or at least turn away from your computer so you're break marks a real change from your work. I think some people take these fake breaks because they feel less conspicuous. After all, if you are still at your computer, it looks like you are still working. Getting up and reading a novel outside might be seen as a bold statement. But when you are doing something not work related at your computer, you are not actually producing any more for your employer than you would be if you were away from your desk. Seriously, your employer gains nothing more by you shopping on eBay than you reading that vampire novel out in the Sunshine. So maybe go gently at first. But if you do a really good job, taking two ten minute breaks per day to do something refreshing is not that ridiculous. So in the days ahead, pay attention to when you are producing an when you are not, and when you are not producing, acknowledge that this may not be an effective break, you are just off task. If you do need a break, take a real one. You'll enjoy the time more and probably be more productive in the long run. In the meantime, this is Laura, thanks for listening and here's to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to to your favorite shows.