Many of our body rhythms have obvious cycles and being aware of them can help you to get the most out of your day.
If you listen to your body and rest and take breaks when you are tired you will experience enhanced performance.
In a recent interview with CPA Australia, Australian psychotherapist Richard Hill, discusses the existence of shorter, ultradian rhythms that affect our concentration throughout the day. He recommends to his clients to take breaks at least every 90-minutes as your speed and accuracy suffer if you stay at a task for too long.
Modern society seems to see the need for a break as a weakness and unfortunately looks to stimulants like caffeine and sugar to maintain our high pace. But Hill asserts that “continually overriding our rhythms leads to chronic stress and a range of psychosomatic symptoms.”
A massive culture change is needed to encourage managing your energy not your time!
According to The Energy Project a staggering 90 percent of workers don’t take any kind of breaks throughout the day. However, in one of their recent studies they found that those who did take a break every 90 minutes reported 30 percent increase in focus than those who didn’t and nearly 50 percent greater capacity to think creatively and a 46 percent higher level of health and well-being.
Everyone can benefit from taking a break; from the busy office worker, to carers and stay-at-home parents to retiree’s managing their household finances and project managing their gardens.
So when should you take breaks?
There are a number of signs that your body is telling you that it needs a break and your productivity and effectiveness is going to suffer if you try to push on.
According to Lesley Gillett in her book, Sleep your way to Success, a wandering mind, staring into space, the need to stretch and release tension in your muscles, making mistakes in simple tasks and being more emotionally reactive are all indicators that you need to take a break.
How long should a break be?
It is not just the short frequent breaks that Hill recommends that our bodies benefit from but also extended time away from our usual daily demands to recharge. Sandra Bond Chapman in PsychologyToday highlights that “time away from work, school, and the stress of a busy lifestyle is crucial to revitalizing (or renewing) your brain health.”
Chapman states that “reducing stress is key to maximising your brain’s performance and our bodies are just not equipped to maintain the chronic stress that is part of 21st century life.”
A critical part of taking breaks, be it short or long, is disconnecting from technology. What we often think of as multi-tasking – responding to emails in meetings, actually makes us less productive and slows down thinking and output.
Research from the University of Gothenburg has also found that people who are constantly on their computers and devices can develop stress, sleeping disorders and depression.
So the simple solution to boosting your brain’s performance and well-being is to listen to your body. Take regular breaks throughout the day from your usual tasks and technology and take holidays – Christmas is the perfect time to start! You will find yourself much more focused and refreshed and able to tackle challenging problems with calm and creativity.
The power of a break
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