The Importance of taking a break - decrease stress and increase your energy
posted in Home |Life and work doesn’t stop and with the invention of a million time saving gadgets and a multitude of ways to accelerate your output it’s easy to see why so many busy people feel like they are in fast forward.
The problem with fast-forward is there is no end in sight; you are in a continuous loop. Let’s face it, the more you do the more you have to do. Fast-forward will soon start to burn your motor and slow your wheels, information will be lost and problems will inevitably arise.
This is however no sign of weakness, the body was designed to function in a certain way. The body is unquestionably remarkable in that it can react to various stimuli in order to cope. There is nothing wrong with switching into fast forward, to escape a predator, to score in sports, or to get something extraordinary done. The problem comes when all of life requires fast forward, because you simply can’t maintain it.
The secret is to know when to hit the pause button. Hitting pause in life, taking a break, is underrated and is non-negotiable. If you don’t rest, you will be forced to, one way or another at some point in time. Some people start to under perform; some people become irritable, stressed or depressed. Others develop physical symptoms, such as tension, high blood pressure or more serious, sometimes life threatening conditions.
Hitting pause is as simple as scheduling some time with the family, or a short break with a loved one or simply some time out alone. This January sit down with your partner or close ones and work out a schedule for the year. Your schedule for the year is your work rest cycle.
Athletes heavily rely on these training cycles, they carefully plan when they need to be at their best (competition) what training they will be doing when, and importantly, when they will be recovering and resting before going again. This process is a vital component of performance and one that we can all learn from. Scheduling these cycles allows the body to perform at optimum, will help your loved ones understand when you are working and when you will be free, and will help your motivation to have blocks of rest time allocated throughout your year.
Some rules to setting your work rest cycle are as follows
1. Start from January when you plan to return to work after Christmas break
2. Go no more then three months before taking a 4 day weekend
3. After no more than 6 months take at least 7 days off
4. At the end of the year, take an extended break of 14 days +
5. A must when on your breaks, is to have more then 80% of your time with no work phone, no email, no pda, no laptop or pc. (Over 3 days of a 4 day weekend or 5.5 days of a week) Work in the modern era, knows no boundaries so if you don’t set them, you won’t be resting at all
6. Schedule some time with friends and play some sports or plan some social exercise. Active rest will leave you feeling revitalised.
7. Plan ahead, so that on the day you return to work you have time to catch up on, emails, phone calls etc and have a look at the 3 month landscape ahead of you before your next break then GO!
P.S If ever you feel you need a break, take a long weekend immediately, or as soon as possible. Pushing through will only lead to more problems and have you in a state of deficit which will be far harder to get out of and potentially more serious.
By Alex Cox-Taylor