How to Take a Break

In my last post "10 Deadlines Per Day", I wrote about the value of working just 30 minutes at a time followed by some type of break or reward.  As I've been practicing this at work, I've been learning "how to take a break".

When I'm in the office and need a break, I can't take a nap or check Facebook.  I'm "on the clock".  My breaks should be for important personal needs (mind, spirit, family) or should be enjoyable but connected to work.  So far, these are some of the things that have worked for me:

• Walk all the hallways in the building for a couple of thousand steps.  Socialize, but look for opportunities to address work priorities.
• Walk outdoors
• Research topics or skills that fit work priorities AND that I find interesting or fun
• Call my wife or text my kids
• Write in a work journal
• Meditate

10 Deadlines Per Day

Or 20.  The more the better.

Daniel Pink, in his book "When--the Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing", describes research about "uh-oh effect".  When a team forms to work on a project with a deadline, they typically don't get much done until almost exactly halfway to the deadline.  At that point, if they are hopelessly behind or very ineffective they may give up altogether.  But, if they know they have some reasonable chance of success, this midpoint is when they kick it into high gear.

This pattern was true with a wide variety of efforts:  sports, business projects, preparing for a big exam.  It was also true for a variety of project timelines:  2 years, 12 months, 6 months, 1 week, even 30 minutes.  Time after time, groups would tend to get a sense of urgency almost exactly halfway to the deadline and start to produce their best efforts.

Because of the "uh-oh effect", Pink recommends breaking up projects into multiple interim steps, each with very short deadlines, so that you "kick it into high gear" multiple times in the same long project.  Ideally, there are several small deadlines per day that you aim as you move from task to task: 

• "I want to read 1 chapter in the next 30 minutes."  
• "I want to draft a project strategy in the next hour."

I can see a clear connection between Pink's "uh-oh effect" and time management books such as "The Now Habit" by Neil Fiore that recommend working 30 minutes and then taking a 15 or 30 minute break.  This approach probably works best when you have some goal to achieve within these 30 minute chunks of work and you keep looking at your watch or timer multiple times to see how far along you are.  I've been trying to practice this for several weeks now because these kinds of books have a bigger impact on me when I can put the ideas into practice.  It seems to be helping me get through some of the things I've been procrastinating on at work and at home.

Who's Gonna Blink First?

The deepest meditation experiences I've had in 40 years have been the ones in which I managed to just concentrate on my breathing happening on its own, as if a stranger was breathing, without in any way controlling how fast I breath or how deeply.  Watching the breath without trying to control it is much harder than it sounds, at least for me.  When I'm not focusing on my breath, of course, I make no attempt to control it.  I'm not even aware of it most of the time.  But as soon as I stop all other activity and thought and just try to focus on inhaling and exhaling during meditation, I become a control freak.  "I'm breathing too fast and too shallow.  If I was really good at meditation, it would need to be slow and deep."  Suddenly my ego gets in the way and I try to breath like a Tibetan monk instead of letting my breathing happen on its own. 

I've read that the most people when meditating on their breath have trouble just letting it happen at the pace the body wants it to happen.  Why does this matter?  Because breathing, uniquely, is both voluntary and involuntary.  You can't easily will your hearbeat to quicken or to slow down.  But the breath can be fully under your control and can also happen without you paying attention to it all day and all night.  It provides a unique opportunity to step back and watch your body behaving as if you are an outside observer.  And this creates powerful benefits for relaxation, acceptance, and serenity.  Those benefits are greatly reduced, I find, if I focus on my breath but call the shots on when to inhale, how deeply to inhale, and when to let it all out.

In the last few weeks, I've had some success with a new technique to meditate on my breath with more acceptance and less control.  It's all about what happens BETWEEN inhalations and exhalations.  In those intervals, I now tell my lungs, "It's your move.  You want more air?  You're going to have to start the inhale.  Let's see who blinks first!"  I know that eventually, my involuntary breathing system is going to kick in.  And when it's done inhaling and there is another pause, I again tell myself that I'm not going to make the next move.

With this approach, I'm only having to push myself into letting go during the moments between breaths.  I find that I do have the willpower and concentration to do this.  And then the rest of the time, I'm much more likely to successfully focus on my breath as it does its own thing.

Murphy's Lawyer

If Murphy's Law needed a lawyer, someone who could make the case that if something can go wrong it will, then Murphy's lawyer would be a Six.  Of the Nine personality types in the Enneagram personality model, the Six is the most anxious.  The Six is Paul Revere shouting, "The British are coming!" while Sam Adams, a partying Seven, downs another pint of beer.

I'm a Six.  I've read about the other 8 personality types, and only the 6 fits.  And it fits me perfectly.

Fortunately, worry can be a gift.  Beatrice Chestnut in her book "The 9 Tpes of Leadership" does a great job of showing how all 9 personality types can be either be unhealthy or they can blossom into someone you absolutely want on your team.  For example, every team needs a Six.  America needed Paul Revere.  The Titanic could have used a Six on deck screaming about icebergs.

What has reading about the 6 personality taught me about myself?  I knew I had a tendency to identify problems and to try to fix them.  I knew I was cautious and prone to see pitfalls and risks.  What I didn't realize is that 6's expect everyone else to think, "Wow! I'm sure glad Ben pointed out these issues!", but this is the last thing many other personality types want to hear.  I didn't realize until I read that 6's distrust authority that I also distrust authority figures until I get to know them.  And when I read that 6's are notorius for extreme loyalty, I suddently understood why I always go overboard with volunteer roles.  I become so loyal to the organization I'm volunteering for that I don't set boundaries well.  I get overcommitted and sacrifice too much.  I've had to cut out most of my volunteer work and now I understand why.

I'm grateful to learn all this about myself, even though there are things to watch out for, because in her book Chestnut also talks about the great ways that 6's contribute to the world.  She shows how every personality type has things they need to watch out for, ways that they can get into trouble, but also shows how they can contribute in uniquely and indispensably to their families, communities, and workplaces.  The diversity of personality types is perhaps the most important diversity of all.