Masterful Mindsets ~ Take Breaks to Increase Productivity
“There is virtue in work and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” ~ Alan Cohen
We are coming to the end of the mini-series on how to organize your day for maximum efficiency. Today I’ll take on the last of the concepts that caused resistance from my original article. So, if you feel guilty for taking breaks or just believe you are too busy to pause during your work day, this post is for you. Because pushing yourself to keep working without taking breaks in hopes of getting more done, is actually causing you to get less done. The truth is, taking a break isn’t a luxury, it’s a necessity! Studies show time and time again that there are huge benefits to taking breaks – and increased productivity is just one of the many benefits.
I was talking with a colleague recently who was feeling extremely overwhelmed and overworked. She was under a deadline for a project she was working on and felt so much pressure to finish that she’d been skipping her workouts, spending late hours in her office and practically working non-stop. The worst thing is, her writer’s block was so intense that she was getting nowhere fast with her project. The harder she worked, the more frustrated she became. Still, little to no progress was being made.
Of course, I suggested she use today’s high-performance strategy as a way to get herself back on track so she could reach her deadline. But she fought the idea. Until finally… she didn’t. She was so desperate to break through that she took my advice. And guess what? It worked! Why? Because not only does taking a break increase productivity, it also improves creativity and restores motivation for long-term projects.
So today as I emphasize this one last simple but powerful success tip with you from my series on organizing your time for maximum efficiency, I want to encourage you to have an open mind because I’m guessing you may have the same doubt or guilt my friend did about taking breaks. But I believe that if you give it a try, you will not be disappointed in your results…
Taking breaks is a practice that has been around forever but somewhere along the way of becoming a society that wears their busyness badge of honor and measures self-worth by how hard they work, we’ve lost this practice. But studies were being done clear back in the late 1800’s proving that it works.
As a matter of fact, a man by the name of Frederick Winslow Taylor, one of the very first management consultants who sought to improve industrial efficiency, conducted a study proving that while the average laborer could load 12½ tons of iron a day; his subject carried 47 tons a day while working only 26 minutes of every hour and resting for the remaining 34 minutes of each hour. That’s a huge increase of productivity in a lot less time worked, all because he took breaks! And it doesn’t just happen with physical activities. Your ability to mentally focus and be productive is affected in the same way.
So… TAKE BREAKS – It really is that simple. People think they have to always keep pushing but again, study after study shows that taking short breaks during your workday can drastically improve your levels of mental and physical energy which then increases productivity, motivation and therefore success. It’s like hitting a reset button. Where you give your brain and your body the chance to re-energize, regenerate and refocus.
Incorporating this concept is simple – schedule your work days into time blocks. Blocking time is a very effective way to get and stay focused on one task at a time (remember, no multitasking) so it’s an easy fit to strategically schedule breaks between your time blocks. Plus, when you are working to incorporate this new habit, it makes it easy to remember to do it after each block.
Depending on the time of day and how intense your work blocks are, your breaks may vary in duration anywhere from 3 to 15 minutes. As a general rule of thumb, if you schedule 50-minute work blocks, you will want to schedule a 10-minute break before you start the next work block. But there’s no hard-fast rule about taking breaks. Do what works for you. Maybe you just need a short bathroom break or a drink of water. Maybe you need to get a snack, stretch or go for a walk outside. If nothing else, just stand up and take a few deep breathes to get you started practicing this productivity habit!
Of course, sometimes it requires a big break. Like seriously… walk away from the project for several hours or days. Forcing yourself to stare at a computer screen when inspiration is not coming will not inspire you. It will only frustrate you. So, walk away and do something that brings you back to the peace of the present moment. Be still and allow inspiration to come to you. Meditate and pray for whatever you need – courage, wisdom, insight, inspiration, etc. Just be sure you can recognize when you are avoiding and allowing distractions versus taking a needed break.
This week I want to challenge you to embrace the idea of taking breaks by giving it a try. Plan out this week using blocked time and scheduling in breaks. And then at the end of the week, evaluate how you felt (energy levels, inspiration, creativity, focus, etc.) and how productive you were in comparison to the times when you fight and push through. I am willing to bet that you will see a noticeable difference over a period of time if you stick with this one simple success strategy.
And because I’m so certain that this and all the other concepts I’ve been covering this month work, if you send me a picture of your schedule (with blocked time and breaks) for this week, I will enter you into a drawing for a High Performance Planner. (Yes, I’m still old school and write everything down in addition to entering client appointments and meetings into my online calendar.) I love this planner. And I thought it’d be fun to add to my upcoming birthday festivities by giving one away. But you only get entered in the drawing if you play full out with this week’s challenge!
***Send your schedule, along with your name and phone number, to: support@michelleweimer.com, using the subject line: Take Scheduled Breaks
***Speaking of my birthday, it’s coming up soon so this is your last chance to take advantage of my FREE Strategy Session Offer… only a few more spaces available. Go to https://michelleweimer.com/freesession/ to apply for your session now!
***Join me for Facebook Live every Wednesday at 2:00pm Mountain (1:00pm PT, 3:00pm CT, 4:00pm ET) on my Facebook Biz Page: Coach Michelle Weimer