How Taking Breaks Can Make You More Productive

Taking breaks and having some downtime may seem counter-intuitive if you’re trying to accomplish more. But it’s important to keep in mind the longer your brain stays active especially in working through complex problems, the quicker it can get worn out. Just think of when you exercise at the gym for long periods of time. The more difficult the exercise, the quicker you find yourself fatigued. The same goes for your brain! After all, your brain is also a muscle in your body and oftentimes, we forget this.

So give yourself a rest every once in a while and continue reading to remind yourself how taking breaks can make you more productive.

Breaks Help You Refresh Your Mind

We get it, you need to get the job done. But what’s the use if you can barely keep your eyes open? Give yourself some time to relax and wind down. If you’re lacking energy and pushing through a specific task with great difficulty, taking a 20 to 30 minute nap in this case may be most beneficial to you. A short nap within this time frame can help improve mood, alertness and performance. You’ll come back feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the task in even less time than it would have taken you trying to do it exhausted!

It Can Lead To Creativity

Taking walks during your breaks can lead to creativity. The simple act of walking may get your creative juices flowing and may allow you to gain a sense of introspection because it allows you to be alone with your thoughts. Even the simple act of decluttering your desk can help increase work motivation and give your brain the much needed rest it needs to get back on track. You may even take it a step further and opt to kill two birds with one stone by cleaning and organizing your desk in a way that will also enhance your productivity. No matter what it is, choose a mindful or physical activity that takes you away from thinking about work.

Keeps Us From Getting Bored

Do you find yourself zoning out? Maybe it’s time to take that mental timeout and recharge your batteries. Doing a single task for a long period of time can eventually make you lose interest and motivation. Our brain was not built to work for long extended periods of time which is why a brief interruption is all we need from keeping us bored.

When Not To Take A Break

There are however, moments where it wouldn’t make sense to take a break. For example, when you’re completely immersed in a task with seemingly effortless concentration and pleasure in the task itself. It doesn’t make sense to break that flow for the sake of taking a break. Once your concentration is broken, it can get difficult to get back into the activity and re-enter that state again.

We are leaning closer to the launch of our new product coming up in July. As you may or may not know, Minima Basics has been working very closely with a lovely planner company over the past few weeks to craft something new and exciting for you. Stay tuned and make sure to subscribe to our mailing list for the juicy details!