Note: All names have been changed for privacy reasons.
When I met Anthony, he was struggling to complete his work. Despite his best intentions, Anthony often found himself chronically falling behind in his assignments.
Anthony had tried a lot of strategies to get his work done. He’d scheduled work blocks, written to-do lists, and a host of other tactics to increase his productivity. But most days, he’d get distracted and end up doing much less work than he was capable of.
When I asked Anthony about his days, I was struck both by the amount of work he was trying to complete every day and the number of strategies he was trying to use to get it all done.
But one thing really stuck out to me:
Anthony wasn’t taking any breaks. Or rather, Anthony wasn’t taking any real breaks.
Sure, Anthony was taking some time off work during the day. But he often spent these breaks:
- Scrolling on his phone
- Reading the news
- Talking to his coworkers
- Dealing with other adulting tasks (like paying bills, scheduling appointments, etc.)
Let’s break down this list a little bit.
Usually, when we take breaks at work, we want our break time activities to be significantly different than our work tasks. This enables the parts of our brains and bodies that are active during our work tasks to actively recover.
Unfortunately, many of the “break” tasks that feel easiest don’t give our brains and bodies as much rest as we might like. For example:
Let’s say we’re an average desk worker. When we’re working on individual projects, we’re often reading, writing, manipulating numbers, and staring at a screen. When we’re looking at a phone, we’re often…reading, typing (messages etc.), and staring at a screen. This means that a lot of the brain architecture that we’re using for work is also being used during phone time. As a result, phone time often isn’t particularly restful. As a result, phone breaks make us much more likely to get distracted again.
The same is true of tasks like reading the news. While reading the biggest news stories of the day—or even the hottest social media gossip—we’re taxing some of the same systems that we use while we work. This, in turn, makes it harder for us to stay focused when we get back to work.
Ok, you might say: but what about talking to coworkers? That doesn’t involve staring at a screen.
That’s true. Indeed, for many of us, talking with coworkers can be a fine break. But in Anthony’s case, it wasn’t. Why? Because Anthony didn’t feel like he could truly relax when talking to his coworkers. The competitive nature of his workplace meant that Anthony was always worried his co-workers weren’t fully on his side (toxic workplaces will get many articles of their own). Adding to Anthony’s problem was that his coworkers often wanted to talk about…work. They wanted to check in on assignments or discuss something they were struggling with. These can be important conversations to have.
But for many of us, talking about work tasks doesn’t give our brains a chance to relax at all. And for some of us—like introverts, and those who don’t enjoy the company of their colleagues—talking is more draining than rejuvenating.
The same is true of doing other tasks, like paying bills and scheduling appointments. Sure, those tasks are different than work tasks. But the fact that they felt like work meant Anthony wasn’t really getting any time to relax.
These non-restful breaks often result in “focus fatigue,” which makes it difficult to be our most productive self during the rest of the day.
So what does a real break look like?
A real break should have three attributes:
- Enjoyable. A real break should be something that makes you feel good
- Different. A real break should focus on different activities than what you do during your job.
- Rejuvenating. A real break should make you feel sharper and more relaxed after you do it.
These three factors mean that the same breaks may not be the right fit for everyone. For example, if you are on the phone all day for work, taking a call during your “break” might not be particularly restful or different. On the other hand, if you’re staring at a screen all day, taking a break to call a friend quickly might be exactly what the doctor (or coach!) ordered!
In Anthony’s case, we started incorporating three real short breaks into his day (5-10 mins) along with two real longer breaks (10+ mins). The results were by, coaching standards, almost instant: Anthony almost immediately started feeling more productive, and reported completing more of the items on his to-do list.
I won’t pretend that taking better breaks was a magic bullet: Anthony and I ended up incorporating several other strategies to help him reach his productivity goals. But of all the strategies we employed, taking real breaks was by far the most effective. And Anthony’s case wasn’t unique: for almost all the clients I work with, taking breaks is an incredibly powerful tool for increasing productivity, focus, and general work-life satisfaction.
Of course, figuring out what kind of breaks are right for you—or how to fit them into your day—isn’t always easy. If you want help figuring out how to incorporate better breaks and other productivity strategies into your day, please feel free to reach out or schedule a free consultation! I hope this article was helpful, and I really appreciate you reading!