The human brain just wasn’t built for extended focus and it’s normal to stray away from schedules and recuperate in silence.
“Deactivating and reactivating your goals allows you to stay focused,” says professor Alejandro Lleras of the University of Illinois
There’s just no way you can’t even take even 15 minutes to relax. “I don’t have time” is maybe the biggest lie we can tell ourselves. Especially when there’s so much going out in the world, in hard times like even existing is a task of accomplishment.
Breaks And Thinking Patterns
When you’re focusing, you’re hindering your path to the diffuse mode.
Diffuse thinking allows our brain to make bigger-picture connections involving your new skills so they become second nature and we can use them in our everyday routine.
Timely breaks allow us to take a step back and make sure we’re accomplishing the right things in the right way. Often we’re told we should always be hustling, always promoting but taking a break to counter the blues and restore creative energies is also important.
Exterminating The Guilt Correlated With ‘Breaks’
The human brain is expected to make more mistakes and often take actions that are less efficient if not backed by regular breaks.
It’s natural to feel guilty while taking a break when you’ve half-baked a task, but going out with partial brain power would cause ourselves to settle with a mediocre product and might narrow our creativity by a substantial degree.
Resort to anything that gives your brain a chance to decompress, without being sinful about it.
“If you don’t have anything left to pour out, then you need to find a way to fill yourself up again”
Taking a break may get inferior notoriety in hustle culture, but it’s an indispensable, science-oriented way to ensure you can live your life the way you want to live it. Recent research shows a shorter burst of work followed by a longer pause from work might be a more effective way to get the most out of stepping away from your desk.
Go Out, Spend Some Time In Nature!
When it comes to enhancing a person’s overall mental well being, there’s no better remedy than nature.
You don’t necessarily need to plan a vacation to the mountains to unwind your spirits. Even parks, outdoor paths, and building designs that embrace “urban nature” can lend a sense of calm and inspiration, encouraging learning and alertness for workers.
No Screen Time During Your Breaks
Don’t use social media during your break!
According to The Harvard Business Review reports, Social media can also hurt your ability to focus and learn. Continuous exposure to social media use induces stress. Our brain gets hooked on the instant gratification of seeing the next Instagram picture and then the chain goes on and on.
Get out of your furniture/desk and walk. Call a friend or relative. Vent out, refuel yourselves.
Dodging Breaks Is Not Cool
As per the recent research from the University of Southern California:
“Our brain uses the downtime to make important connections that shape our identity and social behaviour – things like recalling personal memories, imagining the future, and developing a code of ethics.”
Not taking breaks comes with other adverse effects:
- Emotional, Mental and Physical Exhaustion
- Creative Blocks
- Headaches
- Trouble in Focusing
- Damaged eyes
- Degrading Health
Goal Habituation
When you work for too long without taking a break, you might lose track of what you’re actually trying to do.
Breaks And Chronobiology
Our focus, energy, and motivation moves in “waves.”
The hack is to understand the movement and acknowledging our body patterns and act accordingly, giving ourselves those little “pauses” now and then can increase our efficiency drastically.
It’s important to understand our ebb and flow of high and low energy. Tweaking this natural phenomenon and using it to your best can provide you desired results. Exhausting yourself is harmful to your creativity. Be happy that you’re alive and breathing, every breath is a gift, don’t forget.
Taking a break is productive, not for your work but for your well being, we are humans, after all. Breathe.
References:
- The Science of Taking Breaks at Work: How to Be More Productive By Changing the Way You Think About Downtime, Courtney Seiter, Buffer
- The Art of Taking a Break So You Will Be Productive Again, Aytekin Tank, Lifehack
- The Art Of Rest — Why I’m Taking A (Short) Break, James Prescott
- Why You Need to Take More Breaks (And How to Do It), Social Triggers