Sam Munslow is a leadership and mental health coach for Blue Monkey Coaching who supports mental health awareness in construction and other male-dominated industries, as well as delivering wellbeing workshops and management workshops in the highways sector. In this article she asks, what do you do during your breaks?
'Breaks...? You're having a laugh. I don’t have time to make a coffee, let alone sit and ponder my navel while I drink it!’
What if I told you that by not taking a break, you are: reducing your productivity for the rest of the day; putting others off wanting career progression; training your brain to keep working – which will then create anxiety outside of work?
False beliefs about productivity
It is known that we can only focus for so long – 45 minutes is thought to be the limit, though it will vary from individual to individual. If I am immersed in a task, I can focus effectively for at least twice that, but my brain, eyes and back start to ache and it takes time to recover. Powering through, opening a window to wake yourself up, falling back on coffee – these are all flags to pause for 5-15 minutes.
And what you do during your break also matters. It is a good start to have a cuppa and move from the home office to the kitchen or living room, but if you are still thinking about work, you are still working – and you are definitely not recharging. I find a 15-minute chat with friends or family is great for resetting the system.
Planning breaks and relaxing activities ahead of time and scheduling them in can help. This can apply to other activities as well, like evening meals. If I hit the kitchen after work, tired and hungry and with no idea what to cook, the chances of me getting a takeaway and crashing in front of Netflix are dramatically increased. If I see that I have planned something, it doesn’t matter how tired I am, I am more likely to eat healthily and not waste the ingredients I have bought.
It is the same with breaks. If I stop because my brain’s addled, I can end up scrolling through social media for 15 minutes and not giving my eyes a rest at all, or I even end up hurrying back to work because I can’t relax. If I’ve written down ‘walk the dog’ or ‘phone mum’ then I’ll just do that; no thinking involved, and I’ll recharge and either my dog or my mum will be grateful!
What impact does your behaviour have on your team?
Taking breaks tells your team you value and respect your time and your wellbeing. This gives them permission to do the same.
Working through your lunch in your open-plan office, or eating a sandwich on a video call, creates a culture of putting work first. Not only is this an unhealthy culture, but it also demonstrates that to progress up the career ladder self-care must be sacrificed, which means you are likely to put people off going for promotion.
Then there’s the psychology bit. What are you training your brain to do when you don’t let it switch off? Filling every available moment with stressful thinking and work creates a habit. You will probably find that when you do eventually shut the laptop to relax, your mind keeps working. Do you keep reminding yourself of the to-do list, popping problems into your head to solve when you are trying to sleep (because it’s quiet then and the perfect time to bring this up)? This can end up preoccupying you during family time and frustrating your loved ones.
How about doing one small thing to address this today? It could be:
- -planning a break and sticking to it
- -sharing this article with your team and discussing it
- -consciously listening for when your body gives you ‘please pause for a few minutes’ signals – tired eyes, thirst, hunger, easily distracted, can’t think of words or type as quickly – and in response going for a five-minute walk or listening to one of your favourite songs.
Just make a start and do it daily until you see the benefits. Stop believing the conditioning that busy is productive and start recognising that your health matters during the workday too.
You can contact Sam on LinkedIn, or sam@bluemonkeycoaching.co.uk, or through www.bluemonkeycoaching.co.uk
