Taking Frequent Breaks – Effective or Not?
Today I tried taking frequent breaks to see if it will help my productivity or not.
The good news is that I ended my workday relaxed and not overworked. The bad new is I worked from 9am-7pm punctuated with min-procrastination breaks. I was able to complete most of my tasks (especially my MITs) but felt I was unproductive. I didn’t get into the work rhythm because the constant breaks broke it.
My brain wired as it is, would linger a little bit longer during my break. Just one more page. What’s this link? Then the warning bells for willpower started to ring.
I guess breaks are okay for some but for me, it would have to be when I’ve worked for four hours straight. And after a long tasks that drained a few couple of brain cells, I might switch into a physical tasks that requires Neanderthal RAM capacity.
So to sum up:
- Switch tasks. After a mental task, switch to a physical one. (e.g. brainstorming then do the dishes)
- Take lesser breaks in order to avoid breaking the rhythm.
