Knowing When To Take a Break (1.15.23)
Hustle culture is alive and well.
This morning I saw a tweet suggesting that if a startup CEO wasn’t working on the weekends it was a sign of “quiet quitting”. I don’t know if it he was serious or not—it doesn’t really matter. It’s undeniable we live in a society where it is expected that we are always “on”.
work from home—when does the work day end and personal day start…it’s a blur.
cell phones—if a response to a text or a call isn’t immediate, it is followed up more texts and phone calls.
email—same as the cell phone.
hustle culture—if you’re not hustling, you’re falling behind or if you don’t have a hustle, you’re doing it wrong.
We’ve forgotten, especially here in the U.S., that you can work hard AND take time to just “be”.
The Wellbeing Thesis, a collaboration between The University of Derby, King’s College London and Student Minds, shares the impact of taking breaks,
“Relaxing and social breaks have been found to be particularly beneficial. A relaxing break can help to facilitate recovery, by returning your mental and psychical functional systems to their baseline [4]. Additionally, a relaxing break can help to reset your mood, thereby promoting positive wellbeing and reducing stress.”
IT DOESN’T ALWAYS HAVE TO BE BIG
Taking a break doesn’t necessarily mean taking a vacation or sabbatical. You can provide yourself much needed breaks in smaller more meaningful doses.
For example, in one of my first yoga classes back from vacation I found myself spent midway through the class. We were on one of the moves we do complete two rounds of and after the first round I knew I needed to sit the next one out. But my head was telling me just to push through—it was only a 20 second position and by pushing myself, I’d help myself get stronger. It’s true I may have gotten a little stronger if I’d done the second round, but I decided to listen to my body and heart rate and rest for the second round.
The best 20 seconds of the day.
That short break allowed me get my heart rate and breath back under control and set me up to finish the class strong.
I knew I needed a break but I tried to talk myself into pushing through—everyone else was doing the second round, I always do both rounds, and countless other reasons I should have not taken a break.
But, I needed the break.
Ok, one more example…
I don’t know about you but my mind can go a million miles a minute—thinking of what needs to be done, what I want to write about, a book I want to read, the boys’ practices, the client I need to call, and the list never ends.
I never realized how nonstop my mind had been going for years until I got consistent with my meditation practice (I think yoga has helped as well). Not only does my mind get a rest during meditation but I find myself throughout the day not thinking and just being—giving my mind a break.
The mental break is indescribable, especially if you’re used to non-stop activity in your head.
Now that I know how impactful breaks are, I find myself looking for more opportunities to slow down and just “be”…those moments of rest allow me to be more productive, creative, and go “harder” when I’m on.
If you find yourself always on the run, never with a moment to just relax, and unable to just “be”, I encourage you to take a power nap (cheat code), meditate, take a walk, turn on Do Not Disturb on your phone, or anything else that will allow you to shut down for a break.
You don’t have to always be hustling.
Knowing when to take a break and actually doing it will allow you to hustle harder when it’s time to be “on”.
See you tomorrow and keep pursuing,
JC
