HOW TO TAKE BETTER BREAKS

Taking breaks is necessary, but when you’re working from home, there’s a fine line between productivity-boosting rests and procrastination. Here’s what you need to know to recharge the right way.

- JILL DUFFY 

You’ll never be the best you can be if you aim to be 100% productive every minute of your workday. It’s impossible to work nonstop without paying a price, be it a decrease in quality, output, or safety. We all need breaks.

If you’re new (or newish) to working from home, you might be tempted to compare your at-home break schedule with one you used to follow in your place of business. For instance, you might be thinking, “Would I have spent 10 minutes opening a package if I had been at work? or “I’m not usually this distracted when I’m at work.” Don’t do it.

WHY YOU SHOULDN'T COMPARE THE BEFORE AND AFTER

First, anyone who has worked remotely for a long time will tell you there's no sense in comparing your break schedule at the office to the one you follow at home. They are two different environments. The interruptions are different; your focus is different; your productivity levels will also be different. It takes time to figure out your new way of working.

Second, since early 2020, life has not been anything like it was before, for most of us. You might be more distracted by the news. You might get interrupted by children, pets, or other people in your home. And you might be coping with symptoms of long COVID.

Third, with all these changes, we're all under more stress than usual. Stress depletes our energy. When we're low on energy, we need a break. I've argued, in fact, that putting self-care before productivity will keep you healthier and happier. And counterintuitively, it might improve your productivity in the long run, if done right.

Knowledge workers, myself included, usually are responsible for their own break schedules. It's up to us to determine when to take a two-minute break to read headlines or how slowly to stroll down the hall to get a glass of water.