Lesson Info
8. How to Take a Break
Lessons
The Challenges of Working From Home
06:07 2Set Up Your Space
16:02 3Good Morning! Good Life!
14:09 4The 5 Habits of Productive WFH Communication
14:56 5The Power of ‘No’
10:16 6How to Do Everything You Want to Do
16:00 7The Time Blocking Method
17:48 8How to Take a Break
06:18Lesson Info
How to Take a Break
Can you be productive all the time? Yes. Does being productive all the time mean that you're constantly working on something? No. Sometimes being productive just means giving you the space to rehabilitate it's time to talk about taking an actual break in this lesson. I want to share some ideas with you to take into consideration when you actually make the time for that break, you really deserve first. How do you even take a break? Right? Like how does it happen? Well, pretty similarly to everything else that we've been talking about? You got a plan on it, you know, you're going to need it, so therefore, you know, you need to make time for it, whether you need to schedule it or make sure it happens at the same time every time. Make sure you are making time and planning on taking a break. You may have heard me talk about the Pomodoro method previously and it's the idea that you do sprints of deep work 25 minutes at a time and then take five minute breaks and then after a certain amount o...
f sprints taking a longer break. That is a great example of a strategically placed scheduled break. And just one way that you can do this. The point of the matter is it needs to be very intentional. So just saying, yeah, yeah, I'll take breaks is not going to cut it. You've got to make sure that they happen by making the time shocker. I know. So what are you actually going to do on your break? That's the big question. No secret. That my first idea here is for you to unplug. Okay, No phone, no laptop. Step away from all the screens. Now, maybe work doesn't actually include a lot of screens. That could be a possibility. And so it's more of a reprieve for you to be able to do that stuff. When you get to take a break, I will let that be the case for you. You get to decide that you're the expert on your life and your work and your brakes. But I find that because screens tend to be so present in my work all the time, it's very hard for me to again draw the line and differentiate between work and play and work and life. If I let the screen continue to be an ongoing theme and everything that I do both business and pleasure. So if I take a break, I definitely need to be like 20 ft from a screen. I definitely don't need my phone at least for a few minutes. I'd like to just maybe go look at the real world for a few minutes and assess where I want to go from there. Another idea is to take a nap. I've never really been a nap person, but I think it's because I'm really, really good at getting enough sleep Every night, but that doesn't mean that people who take naps don't, you may have felt the direct advantage of laying your head down for 20 minutes and getting back at it afterward. That's an intentional break to me when you're sleeping, you're sleeping, you're not multitasking or at least task switching. So if taking a nap is right for you find the space, make the time and make it happen. The break that were probably the most acquainted with is the lunch break, right? We leave to refuel. And so that's yet another thing that we can do on a break, not just for lunch, but others as well, refuel hydrate, make sure that the body is nourished and healthy so that we can actually focus on the rest of the things that we're doing when we work from home. The lines are blurred so much with food because you can just literally go into the kitchen anytime you want and no one's going to accuse you of avoiding your work except for maybe you. So it may seem weird like you need to set times that the kitchen is open for you or when it's not, but if that helps you to set the boundaries and it makes you go into break mode better because you're not taking random breaks throughout your workday or bringing food to your desk. That can be very, very helpful. Journaling is a great thing to do on your break. This goes back to getting in touch with what you're actually thinking and feeling. I always feel that my ability to sit down and just brain dump into a journal gets me in touch with where I'm at at that moment, especially if I'm feeling stressed, starting to get some perspective on where that stress is coming from. Am I creating it or is it external and on to me? And how do you deal with it accordingly? Is a great idea on a break. However you see fit, journaling could be one way to deal with it, connect with someone, take the time on your break to just go call whether it's your mom or your best friend or somebody unrelated to your work, check in with someone. Hey, I happen to be on a 10 minute break. That's great because now they know you have a limited time to be on the call and you guys can focus and and spend that time together. But maybe just the human interaction when you are probably in an isolated environment, doing your work is something that will refuel you to go back and do your best work, incorporate exercise into your brakes. Great idea for anyone who definitely doesn't even have time to fit it in their morning routine if you're like me and it's just not a good fit for you. Make it your lunch break activity or make it something that happens in the mid afternoon or maybe it's mid morning. If you work from home, you may have this flexibility or the ability to have the flexibility. If you have the right conversations with the people who are holding you accountable to be able to take your break when it's a healthy moment for you and do something healthy during that time is a great way to come back. Refueled and getting outside is always a great idea. Studies show that spending time in nature can help alleviate mental fatigue by relaxing and restoring the mind. Not only that increased exposure to sunlight and fresh air helps increase productivity and can even improve your sleep. So if you can not only get some exercise, but get sometime outside, it's going to help you from a productivity level big time. And the biggest way to take a break Is to sleep it off when it's time to sleep, it's time to sleep, reverse engineer your bedtime, make it happen, get 7-8 hours, you need that time to refresh for the rest of the next day to be any kind of effective for you. So hopefully we're taking our brakes a little bit more seriously. You're getting a little bit better at this balance stuff. Remember that being productive doesn't always mean you have to be doing something and taking breaks should be intentional. Take some time to review the tips that we talked about in this lesson so you can start to incorporate more intentional refueling breaks in your work from home life balance. And if your favorite tip was to connect with someone, you're really going to enjoy the next lesson, which is all about maintaining social relationships when you're working from home.
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Ratings and Reviews
Brit
This class was a game changer for me. I have officially set up my complete calendar blocking system according to Amy's tips and what works best for me (which she preaches and I LOVE that, since no two people are the same)! This masterclass gave me the motivation I needed by helping me look inside myself and turn insight into "just do it" action. I have been on a journey this year to strive for more and now I can say I am truly on the path to living the life I want and live out my passion and purpose in this world. So grateful. Thank you Amy!!
Michelle Agonafer
This is a great two hours to spend in your day to make the MOST of the other 22. Invest in this class. I really appreciate Amy's well organized, well thought out and helpful strategies. Her gift is communication and she makes productivity accessible to everyone. Thanks for the class!
Marie-Pierre Mayoux
A super pleasant presentation, full of pieces of advice that I start to emplement with success. Thank you ! Pinky power rules !