Change the Way You See Downtime and Breaks at Work

Photo by Tatiana Syrikova from Pexels

Here’s a shocking stat for you. Ideally, it’s best to dedicate 40% of your workday to include time for breaks. Consider this the time you can spend recharging in between meeting, calls, email inbox replies. Read this once again, then look at your calendar for the week.

There is most likely about 10% space for breaks at the moment — seriously, that just about allows for a lunch break. 

Aside from using tools to help you clear your schedule, set your availability, or encourage focus time, how can you practically re-build this practice into your day?

Breaks. Expansion. Space. Breaks are simply interruptions we schedule can keep us alert for longer throughout the day, allowing our energy to replenish.

To bring in more breaks, we can use a variety of techniques.

Similarly, time-blocking can be a very effective way to plan your day and help with setting better boundaries for walk breaks, exercise breaks, and even tea breaks.

Pomodoro is another time-blocking technique connected to the idea of mindfully taking buffer time by giving you 5-minute breaks after each task you complete. This can also be a great way to take out the guesswork and better assess the workload for your day.

If you have a low after lunch, routine tasks with a lower priority are best suited for this period.

Another simple tip is to reclaim time in your inbox — I have been testing a ‘no email day’ (more on this later on), and so far, it has proven to do wonders for setting boundaries and helping me with reclaiming some focus.

Plan short break periods between the individual tasks to allow for the odd emergency, especially at the beginning. Make an appointment by scheduling buffer time in your calendar to secure it in your schedule.

According to the Harvard Business Review breaks allow us to take a step back, take stock of our efforts and not rush into a task or project. Managing your time better will be incredibly beneficial in that regard.

Re-establish an end of work day

Working from home can be a blessing and a curse more than I’d like to admit. Yes, it allows you to adjust your working hours and even find the best time to work on your most important project.

Still, it can be challenging for some freelancers, employers and especially business owners to create a firm boundary for ending our workday. There is always “one more thing” that can be done on top of your to-do list. That little pesky task you kinda forgot about, and it will only take “five minutes”.

Spoiler alert, it never takes only five minutes. In Reclaim Your Time Off, I talk about time dysmorphia as the idea that we have no idea of where our time is going these days. Set an EOD time and stick to it for the next week or so. Create a mini-ritual to end your workday and see how that impacts your overall productivity.

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