When was the last time you took a vacation?
How many days until your next vacation?
How often do you take breaks during your day at work?
Do you know how to recharge your batteries quickly?
These things could be the most important part of your self-care and are some of the most overlooked. Researchers have done hundreds of hours of research on the importance and value of taking a break.
I don’t feel like I should have to even write this article, but I do.
This has come up numerous times recently in conversations with my neurodiverse clients. They are wondering– why they are feeling so overwhelmed, anxious, and exhausted?
When I ask them to tell me about a typical day, there are no breaks in their work. They haven’t been on a vacation in over a year. Whoa, that leads to burnout and that doesn’t look like any fun.
I love a good getaway. That said it doesn’t mean I was always good at making sure I had a vacation each year. I would dream of going places and never plan it and then it would never happen.
I live in Minnesota and there is nothing better than a warm sunny vacation in January to make the winter blues melt away, but I didn’t know that until I was in my forties.
Here is a little of what science has proven about taking a break:
- Increased energy: A 2016 study found that taking breaks during lunch can increase energy levels and decrease exhaustion.
- Improved mood: Relaxing breaks can help reset your mood, which can promote positive well-being and reduce stress.
- Better problem-solving: Daydreaming, which can happen while taking breaks, can help the mind solve difficult problems.
- Increased productivity: Employees who regularly take breaks report higher productivity.
- Improved work-life balance: Employees who take breaks regularly report a 62% better work-life balance.
- Better health outcomes: Vacations and extended breaks can lead to better health outcomes, such as lower rates of heart disease and reduced stress, depression, and anxiety.
There are two reasons I want you to think about this. Number one is from a personal perspective and number two is from a management perspective.
If you manage people in any way, you need to understand the value of a break. You need to see the research that shows grinding people into the ground and working them every minute of every day, doesn’t pay off for productivity or employee longevity with the company.
Because I work with a variety of entrepreneurs and business owners, they think other people need to work like they do. Which is working all the time.
That is not good for you and not good for your staff. Knock it off. Not all my clients are like this, I have a handful that enjoy lots of time off and they are great role models for the staff and others.
- Breaks give our brains a rest and that rest increases information retention and connection making.
- Breaks keep us from being unfocused and even bored.
- Breaks help to increase problem-solving
- Breaks cause us to reevaluate our goals.
If you want to see some brain scans to back this up, check out this website. Science Behind Taking Breaks
When I was reading “The Productivity Project” by Chris Bailey, countless times he not only talked about the research but also tested the research. It was right every time. Taking more breaks in a day increases productivity.
If you have read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear you know that he talks about it and brings in new research to support the facts that breaks pay off.
What is a break?
Last year the Harvard Business Review pulled in over 80 studies and summarized it for us.
How to Take Better Breaks…
Here are a few of their suggestions:
- Multiple micro-breaks – stretch near your desk, get a snack, have a one song dance party.
- Get outside whenever possible.
- Shorter breaks in the morning with longer breaks in the afternoon.
- Contact with four-legged furry animals.
- Move – exercise is incredible for the body’s recovery. Get up and move around.
What not to do on your break
Scroll through social media – it’s too damn emotional (I added the damn).
I am going to toss in one last item, retreats. I have talked about it before, and I will talk about it many more times from now.
The power of two to three days unplugged from the day-to-day demands is a gift you will appreciate many times over. I take four of these a year and it has increased my productivity so much that I can’t afford to miss one.
Keep your eyes open for opportunities to attend a retreat that helps you slow down. On a side note, I am looking at offering this in 2025, I’ll keep you posted.
In the documentary on Netflix about Bill Gates he will collect all the books, reports, and stuff he needs to focus on a couple of topics in-depth and he will go off into the woods and have a focused retreat by himself. He knows what his brain needs.
This doesn’t seem like rocket science stuff, but sometimes we can forget the most basic of things, and when you are dyslexic, ADHD, or autistic you spend a lot of time masking and adapting to situations and these breaks and vacations can be more beneficial than you realize.
We all need a safe, positive, and calm space to decompress and recharge.
Do you know what recharges you? If not, figure it out by testing many options. Do some research on YOU!
Here are some examples from the different thinker community I hang out with on what they do to recharge:
Walk around the block
Talks with a significant other
Sudoku
Dance Party
Micro-journaling (5 to 10 minutes at a time)
Creating art
Walk the dog
Watch TV
Handcrafts
Eating
Reading a book
Pet a bunny
Meditation
Yoga
Run on treadmill
Watch the sunrise with your favorite warm morning beverage
Work out
Singing
Enjoy a movie
Play with the cat
Going for a short drive
Motorcycling
Be cuddly with a partner
Bicycling to work
Hold a snake
Watching comedy
Funny videos on YouTube or social media (no friend scrolling)
I would love to hear what you do.
Thanks for reading or listening to this. I hope I have inspired you to help your brain help you a little more.
JoyGenea