Boosting Productivity with Regular Breaks
Sometimes life can get overwhelming and we find ourselves overcome by the stresses of knowing all that we have left to do.
When we are motivated to make great changes but we find that there is a lot of work to be done, it can cause us to sometimes stall out and freeze.
The stress we feel from our lofty goals can be a huge obstacle and actually cause us to stop making progress.
How does this happen?
It is almost as if our brains are focusing too much of our processing power in one place and because of this you begin to get burnt out.
This can happen when you don’t break down your goals into smaller pieces that are more manageable and realistic to accomplish.
When we are overloading ourselves with the countless tasks that we need to achieve the specific goals we have in mind, then it can actually be counterproductive.
Changing the stress pattern
Instead of letting your brain burn itself out, there is power in being able to take a break.
Don’t get this confused with giving yourself the excuse to shut down and stop accomplishing anything at all. This isn’t about Netflix and Chill which can be a form of avoidance and the “freeze” mode in perfect action.
You need to acknowledge to yourself that you need to take a time out for some self-care and allow yourself the opportunity to relax and recharge.
Most of us don’t realize just how many different types of stimuli we are attempting to process at any given time.
Because of this, it can be easy to fall into bouts of stress that we may not even notice we are dealing with. If you are beginning to feel a little bit frazzled, you will benefit greatly from taking a little bit of time for yourself.
If it’s not one thing, it’s another
We are always working on something.
Some people even theorize that when we are dreaming, it is the brain’s attempts at problem-solving and processing the information we are dealing with during our waking lives.
It’s important to allow ourselves chances to relax throughout the day and try not to guilt-trip ourselves for needing some downtime.
Sure, you could be using every single waking second of your day to work toward accomplishing your goals, but ultimately that can cause us to slow down our productivity and reach burn out that much faster.
If you want to maintain a high level of quality to your work, you would benefit from allowing yourself to clear your mind from time to time and enjoy yourself.
What can you do?
One of the things that we do is get outside for a daily 30 minute walk in our neighborhood. We have 3 routes we take and all of them immersed in nature and our neighbors animals.
Other times we’ll take a lunch break, listen to a podcast, meditate, and sometimes take a power nap like I did yesterday.
We all need a chance to refresh our morale and unwind a little bit if we are going to perform to the best of our abilities.
Instead of feeling like you are not getting anything done, try to remember that to do things at your highest level, you will benefit greatly from learning how to pace yourself and take the time you need to stop and smell the roses or pet the neighbors dogs like we do!
To your health and wellness,
p. s. the photo above is Eddie and Griff, they run to greet us as we are walking down the street!