Masterful Mindsets

“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...

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

We are coming to the end of the mini-series on how to organize your day for maximum efficiency. Today I’ll take on the last of the concepts that caused resistance from my original article. So, if you feel guilty for taking breaks or just believe you are too busy to pause during your work day, this post is for you. Because pushing yourself to keep working without taking breaks in hopes of getting more done, is actually causing you to get less done. The truth is, taking a break isn't a luxury, it's a necessity! Studies show time and time again that there are huge benefits to taking breaks - and increased productivity is just one of the many benefits.

I was talking with a colleague recently who was feeling extremely overwhelmed and overworked. She was under a deadline for a project she was working on and felt so much pressure to finish that she’d been skipping her workouts, spending l...