Everybody needs a break. Two great inventions that speak to that need are the weekend and the vacation, both of which have a distinct beginning and end. But a break in the middle of the workday is a more elusive challenge. Deadlines, demanding bosses, guilt, and sheer workload often make us power through. We eat lunch while catching up on email and consider a walk to the bathroom a luxury.
On the other hand, even if we value and prioritize breaks, sometimes they go off the rails, unintentionally shape-shifting into a momentum-killing two-hour rabbit hole of online shopping, one more round of Snake vs Block, or BuzzFeed quizzes (We Can Guess Your Eye Color Based On The Trip You Plan To Michigan, anyone?)
Either way, stopping to stare out the window or wander the halls at work may seem lazy, guilt-inducing, willpower-taxing, or logistically impossible. However, done right, breaks can boost focus, recharge your batteries, and make you more productive, not to mention happier. How to do it right? This week, here are 7 ways to make those few minutes really count.
Taking any break, whether it’s quiet or loud, mindless or mindful, is better than nothing.
Tip #1: Any Break Is Better Than No Break
For anyone who’s so overscheduled that lunch consists of wolfing down a protein bar in a bathroom stall, let’s make clear that taking a break—any break—is better than powering through.
A study in Applied Cognitive Psychology ran a head-to-head comparison of five different kinds of breaks. Everyone was asked to focus on a task that required sustained attention for 45 minutes. In the middle, participants took a 5-minute break to play on their phone, sit in silence, listen to a Coldplay song, watch a Coldplay video (apparently even researchers crush on Chris Martin), or choose between the song and the video. Compared to the group that took no break at all, performance was better in every single one of the break conditions.
This makes sense. After all, how much productivity do you realistically get out of that fifth straight hour of studying for your calculus exam? Taking any break, whether it’s quiet or loud, mindless or mindful, is better than nothing.
Tip #2: Make Your Break Different Than Your Work
Everyone has that coworker whose cologne makes the eyes water. But even though you can smell the Drakkar Noir before he enters the conference room, he has no idea. Why? A trick of the brain called habituation. Just like folks who live...
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