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There is often a belief in companies that the best way to achieve more is to work longer. Employees should be at the computer as long as possible because that way they will solve more tasks, send more emails, and create more reports. But productivity generally does not work that way.
Our focus is not an infinite resource. It has its own rhythm and its own limits. If we ignore this, we enter a zone where we work more slowly, make more mistakes, and expend more energy for fewer results.
This article answers why breaks are important and offers advice on how to use them to feel better.
Without Breaks, There Is No Creativity
Today’s way of working requires great creativity. Some jobs are routine, from point A to point B, which can ultimately be automated, but also, due to great dynamism and rapid changes, we constantly have to solve problems, which implies creative decision-making at the most operational level.
And to express creativity, we need to feel good – energetic, motivated, and emotionally fulfilled. We certainly can’t expect that if we are exhausted from continuous work.
What Happens When We Take a Break?
A very simple thing happens: the brain gets a chance to reset. The result?
Thoughts are clearer. Ideas come faster. More complex tasks or problems are no longer insurmountable.
Therefore, we can say that rest is a tool, not a reward. Rest is not something we give ourselves only when we finish everything. Rest is what helps us finish everything better.
This can be:
- a micro-rest on a physical level or
- a mental rest on an internal level.
Why Is a Break Necessary?
We must make a conscious effort to make these breaks a habit. No matter how much it seems that we have absolutely no time to even look up from the computer, no matter how intensely we feel internal anxiety due to the pressure of the deadline or the difficulty of the task, we should be aware that this feeling does not help us to finish the work on time.
It is exactly the opposite, that feeling, by stirring up our mind, takes us away from the conscious presence that is the source of energy and focus, it practically takes us away from ourselves.
How can we expect focus and creative task solving when we are not ourselves?
Mental Rest Techniques to Reduce Stress
What would be even better to practice is mental rest on an internal level. People can see what you are doing on the outside, but no one can know what you are doing on the inside.
No one can forbid you from taking a minute or two to draw your attention away from external things and toward your inner feelings.
Anchoring Technique
You can apply a very effective anchoring technique. An anchor is an object that holds a boat in place, preventing the wind and waves from tossing it about as they please. So we can have our own anchor that will not allow the wind of the mind and the waves of emotions to exhaust us.
It can be a memory of a moment in life when we felt fantastic, a moment from a trip, the smell of the forest, the feeling of water on our skin, laughing with a loved one, or a song that strengthens us.
Anything that awakens warmth in us.
Re-aware of the feeling we had at that time for a few minutes is like dropping anchor in a storm of pressure at work. We just need to make a habit of applying it.
A Technique of conscious relaxation of the body
Another thing you can do is consciously relax your body. The good thing is that you can do it at any time, for example, in a meeting or while talking with a colleague; it is not necessary to set aside a special time for this exercise. Here are the steps:
First, we need to internally “scan” our body with conscious attention in such a way as to discover the part of the body that is in spasm, even though we were not aware of it.
Stress at work is almost certainly reflected in the body, mostly in a way that, for example, the jaw, neck, shoulder, stomach, etc., convulsions or in other cases move uncontrollably (tapping their feet or fingers, clenching their lower lips, biting their nails, etc.).
When we discover in which part of the body the stress manifests, we consciously relax that part of the body with light and relaxed breathing. You can then spread that feeling of relaxation throughout your entire body. Imagine the golden liquid or light passing through your body and completely relaxing the place through which it passes.
Conscious Repetition technique (Mantra Technique)
Another good technique is to read and repeat a quote or poem that inspires, calms, or fulfills you for a minute or two. The emphasis here is on reading and repeating the inspirational text to yourself several times.
This is an exercise in concentration as a great way to calm the mind and emotions.
While repeating the text at a slow pace, try to feel the power of those words (actually feel it, not just intellectually understand it). By doing this, not only have you emptied your inner vessel of the pressure of negative emotions with the help of concentration, but you have additionally filled it with positive emotions.
For more info, check out our blog post on empowering affirmations.
Time for Action
Let’s try to do it right away. Read the following poem slowly 7 times to yourself and try to feel what these words mean to you (feel free to let your imagination run wild):
“The height of wisdom dwells in the light of silence”.
When you finish the last repetition of the poem, allow yourself a moment of gentle inner silence. In that silence lies the space in which energy begins to return, and focus and creativity are reawakened.
That very moment is the essence of rest.
Visit the Zen2Fit platform for preventive health, and see what else you can do for yourself!
