The Art Of Taking Breaks

Imagine a well-oiled machine, buzzing continuously with gears and motors, working 24/7...do you think it will last long ? Obviously, it won't much long before the gears wear off and slowly the machine dies into scrap iron. Now imagine a machine that does no work at all, do you think that lasts long ? Even the most non-corrosive metals wear off with time. 

Funny is it not ? How neither of the both extreme decisions are practically useful. 

The same goes with us humans, too much work, and the brain crashes. Too less work and then the brain looses all sense of utility (as the famous saying goes "Too much rest leads to rust"). So the question we must ask is how much rest is rust ?

Now, now, I know what you guys are thinking, why should you care ? You take rest when you are tired, you work when you feel like it, seems to be a great idea is it not ? NO, it does not work atleast in this modern world. Let me explain, our brains are hardwired to the pain vs pleasure principle, so we naturally tend to move towards a phase of rest, pushing our "rest barrier" forward. For example, if I usually take 1.5hrs break and suddenly I start taking a 2hr one, when I come back to the 1.5hr break format, my brain simply wont accept that adequate levels of rest was done. Why ? Simple, our normal dopamine level go up when we take a comfy break session, and our brain always tries to match this level. 

So the next time you think about binge watching anime for 2-3 hrs.', remember that it isn't gonna stop there easily. The brain always will desire more.

Now, since the need for this question is clarified, lets move on the answer. How to take breaks ? Personally, I prefer 15 mins break between my sessions, but then feel free to fine tune it. But make sure, that after a break you feel refreshed and not lazy, if you do feel that laziness consciously try to reduce the break session time. The initially tiredness of short breaks goes away with time, trust me on that. 

An important thing to note here, please do not start watching reels/shorts during your breaks, for a very simple reason. The sheer diversity of the content these things give is huge, it makes your brain flooded with information, of which majority is practically useless for you. Plus, the added comfort of a break session makes your brain wanting more. I have found it very often hard to restart my work session after a "reel-break". 

Try simple one-player games, maybe Subway Surfers, Temple Run, Pac-Man etc... for me I usually play a game of chess - that does not mean you have to do it, choose one that gives you relaxation without a dopamine hit in the cortex. 

Eating during breaks ? As long as its not a full course meal, and as long as you don't feel lethargic after eating - completely fine. 

Anime watching ? Perfectly fine too, as long as it does not end in a cliff-hanger. And even if it does, you ought to muster up the courage to stop and come back to it later. 

All this might sound a bit too preposterous for something as simple as breaks, but we should remember "Take care of the small things and the larger ones fall in place". Once, we find our own art of taking breaks, it will immensely boost our daily productivity and prevent burn out. And that will increase our productivity exponentially. 

That's all for today guys, and remember — productivity isn’t about grinding non-stop, it’s about knowing when to pause.

Now, go take a break (KitKat optional 😄).

 

(image credits ChatGPT)