Why You Need a Break
Posted on March 01, 2016 by Amy Scott Grant, One of Thousands of Spirituality Coaches on Noomii.
Overachievers and Type A's may have a strong work ethic, but we're missing the boat when it comes to the true secret to skyrocketing productivity.
Last week I tool some time off catch up some life stuff, some business, some personal things, and now I am back and feeling refreshed and renewed. Breaks are so important, not only to a busy person’s sanity, but also for productivity and creativity. But how about you? Do you tend to work non-stop without pausing to rest or regroup, or do you naturally build breaks into your routines?
For me, when I first learned to take breaks, it became a rather eye-opening experience. I was shocked to learn that periods of “doing nothing” were essential to keep me focused, energized, and wildly productive. It may sound strange, but you sometimes have to do less into order to get more. This is a rather foreign concept to busy Type A’s, (she says, as a recovering control freak), but it is a valuable lesson to learn nonetheless.
In the beginning, I had to schedule in play time, as well as down time, retreats and getaways, and “do nothing” time. Now it’s become habit to seamlessly integrate this level of balance into each week. That’s quite a far cry from my many years as a workaholic.
I remember years ago, I was speaking with a coach who had perfected the art of doing nothing. I was feeling very proud of myself as I told her how I had finally “done nothing.”
She asked me to tell her about it. “What did you do?” she asked innocently enough.
“I read a magazine.”
She snickered. “That’s not doing nothing. That’s reading a magazine.”
“But it was just a silly fashion magazine,” I protested. “It was completely mindless to flip through the pages and look at the pictures.”
“That may be true,” she said. “But it’s still doing something and not nothing.”
I decided that day that I would show her. I can do nothing! I told myself. I sat on the floor and stared at the wall. I soon felt tired, so I laid down. Next thing I knew, I was waking up from a nap. I looked at my watch. An hour had passed! I called up the coach:
“Guess what I did just? NOTHING!” I was so proud.
“Really? What did you do? Tell me about it.”
“I stared at the wall, and then I fell asleep.”
“Oh, so you took a nap.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t mean to. I just fell asleep while I was doing nothing.”
“Napping is something. You didn’t do nothing; you napped.”
“Dammit! Well what do you DO when you’re doing nothing?”
Ohhhhhhh. It dawned on me just then.
What about you? You’re a busy bee, and I get that. Because I like to be busy, too. But not as much as I like feeling balanced AND totally crushing my to-do list.
Doing nothing was very uncomfortable at first. It was light years outside of my usual comfort zone. But I persisted, and this is what I found happened when I took more frequent breaks to do nothing:
• creativity soared
• problem-solving came quickly, almost effortlessly
• productivity skyrocketed
• intuition grew by quantum leaps
• I got in touch with my spiritual guides and my energy team
• my business as a spiritual healer doubled (and my income followed suit)
I gained all of this from doing nothing!
Now it’s your turn. The next time you’re tempted to just keep banging away and work on through lunch (or supper, or snack time), STOP and take a break. You’ll be blown away by how much more you will accomplish.
