The Importance Of Taking Breaks
Sometimes, when you are working so hard to finish a project, you feel bad that you are taking too many breaks. You shouldn’t feel bad about this, though, because taking breaks is an important part of completing a task. It might sound counterintuitive, but this is true for several reasons.
Breaks Increase Performance
Surprisingly, the more breaks you take, the better your performance at work will be. It is extremely difficult to work quickly and effectively when your brain is feeling tired or otherwise distracted. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can take a break every minute of every day, but most experts recommend taking at least one break for every hour of work you complete.
Taking A Break Relieves Stress
Having you ever worked while under stress? If you have, you know how difficult it can be to focus when your mind is stressed about something. When you take breaks from your work, this can help your mind release stress, even if your current work doesn’t cause the stress. When you are stressing about the project you are working on, taking a relaxing break is especially important because it can be difficult to solve problems you encounter while you are stressed. Once you take a break and come back to the project less stressed, you may find that you’ve found a solution to the problem without even thinking that hard about it.
Breaks Encourage Creativity
No matter what job you have, it’s likely that it includes creativity in some aspect or another. When you are actively working on a certain aspect of an assignment, it leaves little room for your creative mind to develop new ideas. But when you take a break, talk to coworkers or have a snack, your creative juices will start flowing again. Just like less stress will help you develop a solution to a problem, so will creativity. This truth means that you’ll be much more productive and well equipped to complete your project when you go back to work after a break.
Overall, taking breaks is important in just about every aspect of your life. This is true because breaks help increase your performance, relieve mental stress, and encourage your creativity. Therefore, you should take frequent breaks as you work. Next time you face a particularly difficult challenge, don’t sit and stare at it, but try taking a much-needed break instead!
Three Benefits of Working in Short-Bursts
If you have ever struggled with focus, maybe a friend has mentioned that you should try working in short-bursts instead of conquering your work all at once. Even if you think this idea is strange, it isn’t necessarily a bad suggestion. There are three major benefits to working in short bursts.
- You Will Be Less Tempted By Distractions
In a society where you are expected to have your cell phone on you every minute of every day, it can be difficult to resist picking it up when the screen lights up. And once you pick it up, you usually aren’t on it for just one second. When you work in short bursts, it helps you be less tempted by distractions. When you know that you can check on the distraction in a few minutes, you lose the urgency to check it out right away.
- You Can Plan Your Work More Effectively
When you work in short bursts, you can plan what you intend to do with each of your 15- or 20-minute bursts. Planning these short bursts makes it easier to decide what to do because you can only fit so much work into one burst. It focuses you on focusing on the essentials. It also helps because planning a 20-minute work session seems less serious than planning a whole day, so you won’t feel stressed deciding what to spend your time working on during each short burst.
- You’ll Be More Focused, And Your Mind Will Be Clear
Some research shows that the human mind can only focus at its maximum for about 20 minutes at a time. This fact means that you are fighting your mind when you attempt to focus for longer periods. When you take frequent breaks from your work, like those outlined in the short burst work method, your mind will get the rest it needs between tasks. Thus, every time you start a new burst of activity, you will be starting with a fresh mind that can stay focused for the entire task!
No matter how you look at it, working in short bursts is truly the way to go. It will help you be less distracted, more organized, more focused as you work, and you won’t be as tired. So next time someone suggests the short burst method, listen to that friend and consider applying this technique to your next project!