Less Stress More Joy

How to Take a Short Break

We were not built to sit all day! We are active, creative creatures. But we are so used to working straight through without stopping that we may have forgotten how to take a break. It’s hard to get into the habit, but a little advance preparation will help you enjoy your break and return to the work refreshed.

If you missed it I have a post about why taking a break is essential for your creativity, productivity and sanity – HERE.  And a post about preparing for a longer break – HERE.

Steps to taking a short break:

  1.  Decide to take a break and stick to that decision. You have to make an active decision to take care of yourself.
  2. Pick one doable thing to finish before you take a break. Choose what it is and do that one thing.(Unless you are just DONE and you need to get away from the desk immediately. In that case, walk away from the computer!)
  3. Jot down one thing you will work on when you return. What are you going to pick up and work on? What are you going to finish when you return?  If you pick something small and doable it helps.  This gets you back into the work instead of taking a break and then returning to your desk and surfing on the internet.
  4. Prep yourself to enjoy the break.  What can you leave behind?  What would you like to gain from the little break?  I know this seems silly but it works!  Tell yourself, “I am going to let go of this worry about the meeting tomorrow. I am as prepared as I can be. I am going to take a break and shift my focus so I can return with more energy.” A relaxing productive break is more likely to happen than if you wander to the break room or walk outside without intention.
  5. Pick your break activity.
  6. Set a clear time for your break and stick to it. If you head out for an hour and return two hours later and then feel behind, you will be less likely to trust yourself in the future. If you head out for a half-hour lunch and decide instead to just grab your lunch and return to your desk, guess what?  You didn’t have a break!
  7. See if you can think of one small thing you are grateful for in your work. What is a positive thing you get to do or experience in your work? Who benefits from your work? What does having a job allow you do, or who does it allow you to support and care for?  Remember that one thing as you head back into work.
  8. You’re ready. Now, get up and move your body and relieve your mind!

Quick Break Ideas

It does not have to be a big production!

  • Stop working, close your eyes and think of three things you are grateful for.
  • Stop working, close your computer and take three deep breaths.
  • Walk around the block alone.
  • Walk around the block with a co-worker.
  • Head to a café for a half an hour – alone, with a co-worker, or perhaps with a book or a journal.
  • Take a timed nap. (Could be during your lunch break or in your car.)
  • Head to the bathroom and splash cold water on your face. Or put the toilet seat down and sit in the stall alone for a few minutes. (Really! This is a great place to take a few breaths or even meditate.)
  • Leave to get lunch and eat it out of the office.
  • Run one FUN errand
  • Eat your lunch away from your desk.
  • Take a personal day and do something you love doing for the WHOLE day.
  • Pick your kids up early from school and go do something you all love to do (ice cream or the park perhaps).
  • Stand up away from your desk and stretch.

How to enjoy the break

To experience the benefits of taking a break, please don’t think about work. And don’t feel bad: you are entitled to a break.

Remind yourself that the work will be there when you get back. Remember to breathe. Slow down during the break. Do something you enjoy. Feel grateful during the break for the experience.

If you feel guilty about taking breaks, practicing taking very short breaks will help you reduce your guilt over time. Taking breaks will make you a more enjoyable person to be around and a better co-worker too.

What can you add to this list?  What quick breaks do you take to get away from work?

Annie Von EssenHow to Take a Short Break
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Take a Break

Lately, I have been talking with my clients about taking breaks. How do you take a break when the work piles up and is never-ending?  How do you take a break when stopping for a moment creates a rapid-fire panic?

The deal is, we need breaks. They give us room to see and experience things in a new way. Taking breaks increases our creativity and our productivity.

I know it is hard to take a break. I will work nonstop without pausing to go to the bathroom, even if I have to go REAL bad! (I do not recommend this technique. It is bad for your bladder and your concentration.)  But, like so many people, I have trouble giving myself the gift of a break.

Sometimes, I feel like I might not start again if I stop working. The only way to get the work done is to keep going. I also feel like I do not deserve a break.  Perhaps it’s because I have not completed the work (which is never done). Perhaps because I tell myself, people have it harder than me.

Here is what I have learned. When I stop and take a break from work, I do better work. I enjoy the work and the people I am working with. And if I take breaks, I am less likely to burn out. (It is possible to work so long without taking breaks that you can burn out on the entire sector you work in. I know this because I have done it.)

To avoid burnout and enjoy your work, you need two kinds of breaks.

  1. Short breaks: you need breaks throughout the day.

    Eat lunch away from your desk. Take a quick walk around the block. Stand up and move away from your desk.

  2. Long breaks: three or more days in a row completely off and away from work.

    Plan for long weekends or even a week or two out of the office and as much as possible away from your electronics. More here about preparing for a longer break with less stress.

If you do not take breaks, you will lose the enjoyment of your work. You will not do great work for your clients or customers. You will stop caring. You will wonder why you started doing the work in the first place, and you will lose connection to your passion. You will dislike the people you work with. You will be a harder person to be around, and it will be tough on your loved ones.

Is it worth it to take a break?

YES!

You can start today. If you are at work, take a look at today’s schedule. When can you take a break today? When can you get up and step away from your desk?  What could you do to take a short break? Can you stretch? Stroll around the block? Eat lunch in a different part of the building, or even in a park?

Okay, now look at your calendar for the next several weeks and months. Do you have a break scheduled in the next few months? A day off on either side of a weekend? A week away? If you don’t have a break coming up, schedule one?  If you do not have any vacation time available right now, can you make sure you leave work right on time a few days a week and not touch your work after you get home?

It is your responsibility to build in your breaks. It takes discipline. Those of us in the U.S. do not take breaks.

Somewhere along the line, we swallowed the myth that nonstop work leads to success. It doesn’t. It leads to exhaustion and a lack of passion.

Take care of yourself. It is beautiful out. Take a break.

(Stay tuned. Next week I will post the steps to taking a short break.)

Annie Von EssenTake a Break
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Invest in who you are — not what you do

So many of us have taken hold of the false belief that our job is our whole identity. Regardless of what you have been taught, your job is not what makes you a good person. It is not what makes you a successful human being.

What makes you who you are is how you are in all the moments: the work moments and the living moments. Within and beyond each individual moment is the truest truth about who you are. It is in all those moments that you can build up not only who you are, but also who you hope to be.

You are becoming truly, deeply you in every moment.

You are the moment just before the day begins. You are the moment when you greet yourself in the mirror and start each new day.

You are the way you chat with the barista, or interact with others on the bus ride home, or even how you walk down the sidewalk. You are the words of encouragement you say to yourself and to others, to help move into and through the day.

You are you in the way you do your best even in a job that sucks. How you treat your friends. How you greet the stranger. How you give to others in little ways. You are how you move your body when you dance.

You are how you love the littlest ones in your life, even when you are exhausted. You are the way you scoop them up and let them know they are good. You are how you show up for yourself and others in the hardest moments, and also how you show up for your beloveds in their joy-filled celebrations.

Who you are is more than your job, more than your paycheck, more than the people you serve, more the trade you do.

You are a bundle of moments, one after another, until there are no more moments.

Invest in who you are in this moment.

How can you show up for yourself in this moment?
For the person you love?
For your co-worker?
For a stranger?

Annie Von EssenInvest in who you are — not what you do
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