Do You Remember To Take Breaks?

Breaks are important for both our mental and physical health. However, not all of us prioritise taking a break. But we all should.

Breaks help with recovery for both our mind and body and help us get ready for our next task or challenge (whether at work or somewhere else).

In leadership we often take inspiration from professional athletes. It is clear that professional athletes carefully schedule breaks and take recovery very seriously in order to ensure top performance. We can all learn from that.

The positive impact of taking a break from work whether it is an afternoon off, or a longer vacation should not be underestimated. There is a lot of research that supports this – actually even a short coffee break has a positive impact. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits from taking breaks; long or short:

• We often see new perspectives when we have been away from work. Taking a step away from what we are doing allows us to rethink and give room for new ideas and solutions.

• Resting rebuilds our body and mind so we have renewed energy. Small breaks at work even help our physical well-being as getting up and moving around have a positive impact on our health.

• Breaks not only reduce our stress levels they also prevent chronic stress. Breaks improve our memory and our ability to learn, helping us to better remember and understand new topics.

• Breaks helps us be more creative, stepping away from what we are doing or doing something else can detach us from our thinking pattern and help us approach what we were doing in a new way.

So, remember to take a break, even a small break can have a big impact.