Take Breaks to Increase Productivity

“There is virtue in work, and there is virtue in rest. Use both and overlook neither.” ~ Alan Cohen

Last week I got on my soapbox about multitasking. (Or task switching, as it really is.) And why trying to do multiple things at once usually doesn’t help us get more done. In fact, constantly switching our attention can leave us feeling more scattered, stressed, and mentally exhausted.

So this week, I want to build on that idea with another practice that can sometimes feel counterintuitive when you have a lot to accomplish: taking a break.

If you feel guilty when you stop working, believe you don’t have time for breaks, or regularly tell yourself, I’ll just push through until I get this done, this post is especially for you. Because just as trying to do everything at once can actually make you less efficient, pushing yourself to keep going when your mind and body need a reset can have the same effect.

Sometimes pushing harder doesn’t help you accomplish more. It simply leaves you more exhausted, frustrated, and unable to do your best work.

When Pushing Through Stops Working

I remember talking with a colleague who was feeling completely overwhelmed by a project she was working on. She was facing a deadline and felt so much pressure to finish that she'd started skipping her workouts, working late into the evening, and spending practically every available minute trying to get it done.

There was just one problem.

She wasn't getting anywhere.

The harder she worked, the more frustrated she became. She was experiencing terrible writer's block, her creativity was gone, and despite all those additional hours she was putting in, she was making very little progress.

So I suggested something that felt completely counterintuitive to her at the time.

Stop working.

Take a break. Get away from the project. Go move your body. Do something completely unrelated to the thing you're desperately trying to finish.

As you might imagine, she resisted the idea. How could she possibly justify taking time away from the project when she was already behind?

But eventually, she was frustrated enough to give it a try.

And when she returned, something had shifted. Her mind was clearer. Her energy was better. The ideas started coming again, and she was able to make the kind of progress she'd been trying unsuccessfully to force for hours.

Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop trying to be productive for a little while.

Your Mind and Body Need Recovery

We tend to understand this concept much more easily when it comes to physical performance.

If you've ever trained seriously for a sport or fitness goal, you know you can't continually push the same muscles without allowing them to recover. Rest is part of the training. It's during recovery that the body gets an opportunity to repair, rebuild, and prepare to perform again.

Your mental energy needs recovery too.

Sustained attention is demanding. As you work, make decisions, solve problems, interact with people, and move from one responsibility to another, your mental energy can begin to decline. A well-timed break gives your brain an opportunity to disengage and reset before you ask it to focus again.

That's why you may notice that after stepping away from something, you suddenly see the solution that wasn't obvious before. Or an idea pops into your mind while you're walking, showering, or doing something completely unrelated to the problem you've been trying to solve.

More effort isn't always the answer.

Sometimes you need space.

Make Breaks Part of Your Workday

One of the easiest ways to practice this is to intentionally build breaks into the time blocks we talked about earlier in this series.

When you're working, work.

Give the task your attention rather than multitasking. Then, when you reach the end of your work block, step away.

You might work for 50 minutes and take a 10-minute break. Maybe you prefer longer periods of focused work followed by a longer break. Or perhaps there are days when you need a few minutes every half hour simply to stand up and move.

There's no magic formula.

Pay attention to your own energy and experiment with what works best for you.

And your break doesn't need to be complicated. Get a drink of water. Stretch. Step outside. Walk around the block. Eat something nourishing. Close your eyes and breathe for a few minutes. Have a quick conversation with someone you enjoy.

One caution, though: scrolling on your phone isn't always the restorative break we think it is. If you've spent the last hour staring at a screen and processing information, immediately switching to another screen and processing even more information may not give your brain much of a break at all.

Ask yourself what would actually help you feel restored.

Sometimes You Need More Than Ten Minutes

There are also times when a short break isn't enough.

Sometimes you need to walk away from a project for several hours, or even a day or two.

I know that can be difficult, especially when you're under pressure. But forcing yourself to stare at a computer screen when inspiration isn't coming usually doesn't create inspiration. More often, it creates frustration.

Give yourself permission to step away.

Go for a long walk. Exercise. Spend time outside. Pray or meditate. Do something creative that has nothing to do with work. Spend time with people you love. Get a good night's sleep and come back to the problem tomorrow.

Allow yourself to return to the present moment instead of continually wrestling with whatever you're trying to force.

Of course, there's an important distinction between taking a restorative break and avoiding something that's uncomfortable. If every time it's time to work on a difficult project you suddenly decide you need a three-hour break, you may want to get curious about that!

Awareness matters here too.

Ask yourself: Am I stepping away because I genuinely need to recharge, or am I stepping away because I don't want to do something difficult?

You probably know the answer.

Rest Doesn't Have to Be Earned

There's one more thing I want to emphasize…

You don't have to earn the right to rest.

Taking care of yourself isn't something you get to do only after you've finished every task on your list. As we already established, that day may never come.

Yes, I'm talking about breaks as a strategy that can help you improve focus, creativity, energy, and productivity. But I don't want you to walk away believing that rest only has value when it helps you get more work done.

Rest is part of taking care of yourself.

It's part of protecting your health and energy. It's part of creating space for relationships, joy, creativity, and simply being present in your own life.

Remember, the goal of this entire series isn't to figure out how to squeeze the maximum amount of productivity out of every minute.

It's to become more intentional about how you're spending your time and your life.

And sometimes spending your time well means doing absolutely nothing productive.

Try It for Yourself

So here's your challenge this week: intentionally schedule some breaks into your day.

If you use time blocks, put breaks between them. Don't simply hope you'll remember to stop when you're tired. Intentionally and proactively put them on your schedule and honor them.

Then pay attention.

How is your energy? Your creativity? Your focus? Do you return to your work feeling refreshed? Are you accomplishing more in the hours you are working because you're no longer trying to push through exhaustion?

And perhaps most importantly, notice how you feel about taking those breaks.

If guilt immediately shows up, get curious about it. What do you believe about rest? Do you associate slowing down with being lazy? Do you believe you have to accomplish something before you've earned a break?

Those questions may reveal something even more valuable than whether your productivity improved.

Because learning to use your time well isn't just about knowing when to work harder.

It's also about becoming wise enough to know when it's time to stop.

Giving yourself a few extra minutes means you may not always have time to pick up that book, but I bet you have a few minutes to listen to a Philosophers Note. Check them out Here and get a few minutes of knowledge and a few minutes of rest!