Professional work can be exciting, enjoyable, and challenging. It can also be exhausting, intense, and draining. It’s easy to let work take over your life. Especially now, as many professionals work remotely or in a hybrid setting, it’s easy for your personal and professional worlds to overlap. As a result, you may find that you’re not separating from work effectively, and you’re not taking time to recharge. Taking a break is key to being your best at work and at home. Here are a few reasons why taking time out to recharge is so important.
You Can Improve Your Work
While it’s important to work hard, running yourself into the ground doesn’t do you any favors. When you don’t take the time to recharge and regroup, your productivity can suffer. You may find yourself slower to accomplish tasks, making mistakes that easily could be avoided, or even missing deadlines. Don’t push yourself harder to make up for mistakes. You’ll be better served by stepping away (physically or mentally) for a bit. Allowing yourself time to rest and recharge will provide you with the energy and clarity you need to work smarter, not harder.
You Can Avoid Burnout
Burnout is affecting more than 50 percent of the workforce. Instead of pushing yourself to the point where you are exhausted, lose interest in your work, and potentially want to leave, take time to rejuvenate yourself. Setting aside time to regularly recharge can help reduce your stress and anxiety and allow you to focus on the things you enjoy. By giving yourself the chance to recharge, you can create a stronger you — both physically and mentally.
You Can Increase Creativity
When you’re feeling stressed, burned out, and constantly tied to work, there’s little room for creativity and fun. Recharging allows you to make space in your brain to think differently and in ways that can help you personally and professionally. We need time and the capacity to be able to think about projects, issues, and ideas in new and unique ways. That is much harder to do when you feel bogged down and stressed. Time away from work can help you reset the way you think and pave the way for a more creative mindset.
You Can Be More Present at Home
Many professionals find that the line between work life and home life has eroded significantly since the pandemic. As a result, the stress of their job bleeds into their personal life. By taking a time-out you can remove yourself from work stressors and reestablish boundaries between your professional and personal lives. Reducing stress will help you to feel more relaxed and create space for you to be present for enjoyable times with your family.
Whether you’ve been in the workforce for five years or 30 years, you likely find yourself overextended. Don’t get burned out or let work consume you, but rather recharge and create the space you need to focus on your mental and physical health. We often think that the more time we spend at work, the better we are as an employee. In reality, taking a break will make us better, more productive employees.
ON TOPIC
It’s important to find balance during the workday. If you keep your head down all day long, you’ll get more than a stiff neck — you’ll become drained, resentful, and ultimately unmotivated. By fitting in little pockets of you-time during the workday, you’ll regularly recharge yourself and fend off burnout.
Take a walk. A little fresh air does wonders — add in some movement and both your body and mind will thank you. Whether it’s a solo trip around the block or a power walk with a coworker, even a 10- or 15-minute stretch will clear your mind and energize you for the rest of the day.
Read what you want to read. Perhaps your job requires a lot of reading and analytics. That doesn’t mean you can’t find time to read for fun. Take time during lunch or a quick mid-afternoon break to read a chapter of a book or an article on your favorite band, gardening tips, or whatever you find interesting.
Listen to music. Turn on your favorite playlist and take a listen. Or if it’s feasible, take out your instrument and play for a little while. Music is good for the soul.
Organize your space. When your workload grows, often so does the mess. Take a few minutes to clean up your workspace. Clear the food and beverage containers, file the papers, and toss the unwanted mail. A clean space will declutter your mind and allow you to focus on the task at hand.
Remove distractions. Put away the things that steal your attention. Turn off notifications; put your cell phone in a drawer or in your bag; and, if allowed, work offline for a portion of the day. Embrace the digital silence and discover how productive you can be when you’re not being pulled in several directions.
