Why is it important to take breaks??
But working uncounted hours can quickly turn out to be dangerous for physical and mental health, and the burn-out quickly arrives. So, think about taking breaks during your workday.
Whether you are a developer, marketing specialist, entrepreneur, team member, etc. your goal is to succeed either by proving to your employer that you deserve your place in the team or by seeing your company grow. This is even more true when you work remotely since no one has a guarantee of how many hours you work.
Taking breaks will allow you to:
Focus more, and better
Thinking about something else than what you work on, can prove to be very good for your attention span and your focus on the work you do. Taking a small break during work, when you feel you need it, or when you feel things are getting a bit too complicated can allow you to come back more focused and solve your problem faster. This can be especially true for developers who might struggle to find errors in their code, going to refill your water bottle, making yourself a coffee, or even deciding to go outside for 5 to 10 minutes can be beneficial to solve the problem quicker.
Be more creative
Defocusing on your work and what you do allows you to see the work you’ve already done from another angle. Leaving your desk for 5 to 10 minutes and then coming back to read the article you just wrote or checking your new design again will allow you to spot some mistakes you’ve made and also give you some ideas on how to continue working on it.
Take care of your health
Both mental and physical health are impacted by long hours of work. In the first place sitting in the same position (or not) the whole day is bad for your body, therefore taking breaks and doing some exercises, stretching, or walking around your room for 5 to 10 minutes can be good for your body. Moreover, taking breaks from the screen will also prevent you from having terrible headaches ad the end of your day. On the mental part, taking longer breaks from work will allow you to find your motivation to give the best of yourself again. Also, taking some small breaks during your day will allow you to feel better and not feel like you spend your whole day stuck inside sitting at your desk. The perfect moment to take a break doesn’t exist. You can choose a more appropriate period depending on where you want to go on your next vacation, or the activity, you plan on doing. But there are some nice activities you can do that will help you disconnect from your work quite a lot
For smaller breaks, usually during the workweek, you can:
Eat
Waking up and starting working before eating your breakfast can be a good idea since it will allow you to take a first break of the day to eat. If you prefer working with a full stomach, you’ll always be able to take an eating break later during the day either for lunch or for dinner. And if you have enough time, you can always choose to go out and eat your lunch with your colleagues or friends and socialize a bit.
Relax
Taking a 5 to 10 minutes break to meditate or lay down and relax can be beneficial, especially before or after stressful situations, this will allow you to concentrate again on what you have to do and feel a bit more energized for the rest of the day
Take a nap
15 to 20 minutes naps are very efficient to reenergize, especially after lunch, or when you feel like you need a bit of a boost for you to end the day. Combine this with a cup of coffee and you’ll have enough energy to finish what planned for the day
Exercise
Sometimes it is nice to take longer breaks, plan your week so that you can exercise at least one to three days in that period. Working out will help you relax and focus on something else that you are working on. For longer breaks, during weekends or vacations, you can:
Discover your city
There are probably places in your city that you don’t know yet, parks, streets, and hidden museums that you may have heard about but never visited. Take advantage of your weekend, holidays, or vacations to discover these places.
Go on a hike
Take your backpack, your friends, or your family and go for a day, a weekend, or a week to discover nature. You can decide to camp on-site, stay in a hotel or a camping site, or even go back home the same night. The goal is to create memories that will put a smile on your face for the week ahead.
Discover new countries
The same goal, disconnect from your projects and your work. Go and discover countries that you have always dreamed of visiting, either by taking a city break for a weekend or for one or more weeks. This will allow you to have new memories to share with your colleagues or friends, and also new decorations for your desk.
As you may have understood, breaks from work are more than a luxury, they are important for the body and the mind. There is no magic recipe, but the goal is to live experiences that can make you disconnect from your work for a while so that you can always give the best of yourself and be the most productive.
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Duty Team