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.