The Best Hack To Improve Your Productivity Is Not To Work More, But To Take A Break

We all talk about how to get more done in less time – how to have more energy throughout the day, how to multitask like a machine, and how to stay focus in every waking minute. But, what is the flipside of that?

The thing is, most of us forget about the importance of rest, the crucial role of taking breaks, and all the benefits come with a good night sleep.

The groundbreaking invention of the Internet then the smartphone help us to do things faster and stay connected easier. At the same time, however, they made us working more since most of us are working with our electronic devices nowadays.

I have to admit I was the guy who checks my mobile phone first thing first in the morning and the last thing last before bed. And always connecting to the Internet (read: work) all the time, from family dinners to getaway trips.

I believe you’re the master of what you’re doing, but many of us don’t know how to take a break. In this article, I’m going to show you a few methods to do just that.

1. Start by completely switching off.

You never tolerate half work, so, don’t tolerate half break. Many of us are doing that. The fact is, spending your breaks on work-related activities leads to higher physical and emotional exhaustion.

We are checking our email while we’re working out; we go for a lunch break and thinking about the meeting happened before that at the same time; we wake up and can’t wait to check if we receive any urgent notifications.

Information is the new drug.

When our brain receives fresh information, it fires up like we’re on drugs. It’s toxic, and it’s addictive. With time, we are wired to the need of staying alerted and connected with everything, especially information related to our work because work is the biggest piece of our life for most of us.

It’s not easy to switch off completely when we become heavily habitual to half-break, when hustling becomes the sub-definition of success. Some willpower is required during the early stage. The best way is by starting with something small and simple, and slowly breaking the habit of half work completely.

• Be present when you’re with others. Listen to your colleagues during the lunch break, to your spouse during dinner, to yourself during meditation.
• Leave your phone behind during non-work activities such as working out and cooking.
• Don’t start and end your day with work-related routine and activities.

Only by completely switching off from work, you’re truly taking a restful break. Which it turns out to be essential for works required creativity and critical thinking, because only by stopping our conscious brain in analyzing and making constant decisions, our subconscious mind can come into play to connect the dots.

2. Try the Pomodoro technique.

The Pomodoro technique is nothing new. It is an extremely popular technique in boosting productivity because it actually works. If you haven’t heard of it before, here is how you do it:

1. Set 30 minutes as a time block.

2. In a single time block, fully immerse into the task at hand and avoid all distractions for 25 minutes.

3. Then, you’re allowed to take a 5-minute short break. During this break, you can do whatever you like – from having a cup of coffee to surfing social media.

4. Continue your work with another time block if it’s not done yet.

5. Start a new task with a new time block if the previous one is completed.

This is not just a technique to boost your productivity, but also a technique to take focused breaks. The Pomodoro technique helps you to fully immerse yourself into both working or playing. It reduces your time spent on multitasking where you get nothing done at the end of the day but yet felt exhausted without any periodical break. By reducing multitasking, you are able to stay sharp because your brain spends less time in switching from a task to another.

3. Repurpose your working space.

We shape the space around us. I like the color white, therefore, my wall and working desk are white. I heavily depend on my laptop to work, and that’s why I always have my laptop charger with me. This applies to all of us. We are constantly changing our space so we can work better with it.

And that is exactly the problem. On the flip side, we design our working space that encourages us to work more. We use a wheeling chair so we don’t need to stand up and walk when we need to get something else on the other desk. We turn on every app notification to make sure we don’t miss anything even they are not important 99 percent of the time. The next thing you know is you haven’t take a break for six hours, yet not getting anything done.

In another word, we are shaped by the space around us. To truly maximize your working performance and productivity, your working environment needs to do two things:

Thing #1: Encourage focus and reduce distractions
Thing #2: Encourage periodical short breaks

There is no need to completely renovate your working space, a few simple twists and tweaks could easily achieve this:

• Go paperless or minimize the use of paper to keep your working desk neat and tidy.
• Working with only one tab at a time. Close all the other tab now while you’re reading this!
• Pick a less comfortable chair that encourages you to stand up and have a walk. However, make sure you can sit still and stay focus for at least 30 minutes on that chair.
• Have a small glass of water by your side so you’re not distracted when you’re thirsty. But don’t place a 2L bottle of water on your desk that eventually glue your butt on the working space.

There are much more small things you can do to design a working space that promotes both focus and short breaks. You can spend some time and a tiny ounce of creativity to experiment with some of your own ideas to see how they work out.

4. Know that you are more than your work.

We’re so bound to more tasks, more work, and more hustle. On the flip side, sufficient break and good rest are equally important, if not crucial. With proper breaks and rest, you will gain more clarity and energy on executing in the long run.

I can totally understand the time when we get to tap into the flow of work. Therefore, I like to point out the tips above are not absolute. Be flexible with them.

One idea I like the most on the topic of productivity and time management is the concept of energy management. Instead of scheduling your task with a cookies cutter timetable, identify your most productive hour in a day, and spend that hour on the task that required deep focus and creativity.