Why Taking Breaks Is Valuable

By Lindsay Barnes


In a workday, you usually get one official break, which is lunch. This is the time for you to nourish yourself, eat, reflect on the morning that has gone, and plan for the upcoming half of the workday. Ideally, this is what you will be doing on your lunch hour. However, there are people who tend to skip lunch in favor of doing more work, with some of them thinking that this makes them look professional and dedicated and others thinking that they should focus on their work and not pay attention to any distractions--lunchtime included. This can also be due to the possibility that some just manage their time poorly and can't get some tasks done by lunchtime.

Of course, that's perfectly acceptable if you're not interested in anything remotely similar to having a life. You need to take a break every now and then to recharge yourself and to keep from getting burned out. Even that one-hour break truly isn't enough for any person. The body can take only so much work, and at some point, you need to give yourself a break. Taking a break does not suggest that you are a slacker or that you're becoming a liability to your team.

You should make time for breaks throughout the workday, and remember that they don't ave to take very long--up to ten minutes is all right. This is going to be time that is well spent. Relaxing, recharging, and regrouping will help to boost your productivity than sitting silently, your mind blank, and no new ideas emerging at all. By the time you're done with your break, you would have seen your project in a different light, allowing you to keep working and implement the new insights you have developed.

Taking breaks gives you time to assess and reassess where you are in a task or a project. It's part of your creative and mental process, and no one will think the worse of you if they see that you've set aside a few minutes to regroup.

If you are concerned that being seen taking a break will alter the way people see you, you may need to work on other issues at hand. Perhaps your desire to be seen as a professional is the only thing that pushes you to stick to a task even if you're not achieving anything and even if you aren't being productive. What you should do is to learn how to focus on yourself and your needs rather than others' perceptions.




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