Who claimed my breaks? WFH, Hustle and Toxic Productivity!
Currently drunk on the productivity and hustle culture, we are collectively intoxicated with the idea of “achieving more in less time.”
More so in the face of a pandemic that with its physical presence has pushed one to virtual limits and it has become impossible to demarcate a clear boundary between work, productivity and lingering in front of the screens.
Your “Break Ethics” are the way you take well-timed and meaningful breaks away from your work and screen, without feeling guilty. Breaks that actually lead you to de-stress and set you up for improved productivity.
You fail to take real, stress-free breaks from work as you are already distracted and drift into social media every few minutes right from the time you grab your phone in bed in the morning till you hit the sack at night. This pushes you into a zone of guilt and taking a meaningful break becomes even more difficult as you feel that you have already wasted your time.
HOW work from home has changed taking breaks?
The clear cut transition from the workplace to the home each evening that happened with your commute has vanished into not thin air but into the virtual screens now and our generation is paying a hefty price for it in the form of mental fatigue, overload, bad posture, anxiety, insomnia to name a few.
Taking breaks from your physical and mental work is actually going to boost your performance at work. For performing better you need a clear mind and a break from your work and stress is going to provide you just that. It even helps you in overall job satisfaction. Just 30 seconds of a microbreak is sufficient to increase your productivity by up to 13%, mentions Lifehack.
WHY is it Basic to take a break?
Taking breaks must not be considered as something luxury. It is basic, intrinsic and crucial for not just your well-being but for the well-being of your business or work.
Do you know that even a 15-second break is powerful enough to reduce your fatigue? As reported by Lifehack, taking a 15-second break every 10 minutes from your computer screen can reduce your fatigue by up to 50%.
According to scientists, when our brain processes new information, it passes through an emotional filter called the amygdala finally reaching the prefrontal cortex. When your brain becomes overwhelmed with information, the amygdala swells up and the information no longer passes through, thus leading to non-retention of memory.
Each time you give a break to your brain, the amygdala restores to its optimal flow replenishing the information supply (thanking you secretly).
How to take a break to de-stress?
In an environment designed for efficiency (by using AI), the hard-hitting irony is that it is also full of stimuli that serve as food for distraction.
Scientists say that you oscillate between small bursts of attention and distractions, during which you pause unconsciously and find your focus to shift towards elements that cause distraction in the flow of work like the constant buzzing of notifications, checking emails.
Being distracted is a natural phenomenon, an urge of the brain to look out for potential dangers to its ‘focus’. You can use this urge of the brain to your advantage by utilising it in a structured way - by taking meaningful breaks.
You should take a brain break before boredom or fatigue sets in.
The following activities may help you to take a small break:
Meditation helps you detach from your thoughts and relaxes you
Helping someone makes you feel positive and connected to them
Physical activity improves the blood flow to your brain, thus boosting attention
Playing/ going out in the sun will give you the required dose of Oxytocin that would make you happy.
Doing something creative like painting, doodling, listening to music will help you to de-stress
Let’s Normalise the Break
Understand that we need to unplug our machines as well as our brains to recharge and replenish. Being productive is all about managing your time and energy rather than ticking of the items off your to-do list.
Do you remember the last time you got bored?
If you are a 90s kid like me, you would know what boredom meant during long summer afternoons that came without cable television or a smartphone. Pestering our moms that we are bored was the thing back then, much to their exasperation.
Let’s get ok with not doing anything for a while, letting your mind be with its wandering thoughts, just being bored and not giving in to the temptation of picking up your smartphone. Promise yourself that’s one thing you are going to re-learn as you enter 2022!
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