For many individuals today, life is just a series of seemingly endless tasks. From the moment they wake up, they just go! From paying bills to phone conferences, checking e-mail to cleaning the house – tasks like these often seem to blend into one another seamlessly, until you are not really sure where one ends and another begins. And, at the end of the day, we often find ourselves feeling that we have not accomplished what we set out to do, and that we maybe haven’t done as well as we could have on the tasks we completed. This is why you must learn to give yourself a break.
Have you ever looked up from your desk in the afternoon, only to realize you’ve had no break, and nothing but a cup of coffee all day? I think many people do this. If you ask someone, should your friend working over here take a break once in a while? Should he or she get a bite to eat on their lunch hour? Their answer would almost certainly be a resounding “yes”! But, we often do not afford ourselves the same courtesies that we would extend to others.
This inability to give ourselves a break not only hurts us physically and emotionally, it can damage our productivity when we are working. Do you often feel “frazzled” when trying to accomplish many things at once? That is your energy, all geared up but uncertain of where it needs to go. By giving yourself a break, you allow that energy to be directed by you more effectively.
The breaks we take don’t just provide a respite from the day’s activities. They allow us to regroup, to gather our focus and energy about us and invest it in a more productive way when we return to our daily tasks. They reduce our stress on a physical, mental and emotional level, as well. And, most importantly, they help us to remember what we are working for. So, learn to give yourself a break now and then as you go about your day, and you will reap the benefits.