Give Yourself A Break

I write a lot about working hard, getting results, getting motivated, and taking action — but I want to make sure I’m not neglecting to tell you how important it is to also give yourself a break every now and then. It is vital that you allot time to rest and recharge your batteries (and I don’t just mean when you spend a few hours sleeping).

You’re not being lazy or slacking off when you give yourself a break

Having one of those days where you’re “just not feeling it”?
It usually means you’re wearing yourself down and you need to hit the Pause button.

Perhaps you think “taking” a break sounds selfish; like you’re robbing someone of time.
I would argue that if you’re not taking time recharge that you’re actually robbing yourself of productivity in the long run. Did you know that a ridiculous number of people don’t even use all the vacation days their company gives them as part of their compensation package?

People who work too much without giving themselves a break get sick more often and increase the likelihood of suffering from job burnout, depression, and irritability with co-workers — all of which carries over into their home and personal life (you didn’t think all those bad things simply evaporated once your left the office for the day, did you??).

Give yourself a break (even if they are little ones)

• Start by making sure you’re taking time out for lunch everyday.
• Get up from your desk every 45-60 minutes and stretch your muscles, take a short walk around the office and garb a drink of water or make small talk with a co-worker.
• Don’t have time to take a full vacation? Try stringing a few 3-day weekends together.
  I once used all my remaining vacation days to give myself 3-months of “No Work Mondays”by scheduling an entire quarter of the year with 3-day weekends!

Physical and mental exhaustion will also kill your ability to generate creative ideas.

Your brain needs rest and time to percolate if it’s going to brew up brilliant ideas!

Don’t believe me?
Thomas Edison was known for taking 15-minute nap breaks under his work bench, and he had a pretty good track record of generating innovative ideas.

I’m going to help you right now by ending my article here and giving you a little break. 😉