So last time I promised to give you some ideas of how to prevent burnout and make sure your teams perform without crashing and burning. This is just the beginning of a journey that is going to have us explore many avenues of this new world of better quality working.
We live in a world where we are over-stimulated all the time, over-adapting. The workplace is often where it happens in its heightened form: phones ringing, colleagues interrupting, to-do lists bursting to the seams, instant messaging taking over from the file we are trying to read or write, last-minute emergencies disrupting a carefully-balanced agenda… there is too much requiring our attention at the same time, too much pressure, too much of everything. Overwhelm is just round the corner.
Here is the secret to how to keep a fresh mind even when work and life, in general, are too full of everything: take a break, make a pause, have time off, silent times. Call it anything you want but do it. There are many ways to do this so let’s start with a basic: the one-minute break. As unlikely as it may sound, it can recharge you for the rest of the day.
So, what does an efficient break at work look and feel like? Several times a day, take a one-minute break. You can even make it just a few seconds to start with if one minute sounds way too long to you. You do not need any particular place or an environment, just wherever you are, close your eyes, breathe out deeply, let your shoulders down, unclench your jaw, forget everything and listen only to your breathing. Ok, it might not be ideal to do in a meeting but otherwise, you can do it pretty much anywhere. If you want to make it two or five minutes, excellent but keep in mind that it is more efficient to have several very short breaks during the day rather than one longer one. Studies show that we should do this, at least, every two hours. And please do it even if you are feeling absolutely fine, taking a break BEFORE you are tired is a big part of the secret to keep your mojo going.
If you think you will not even remember to do it, a few ideas may help: setting an alarm on your phone (not a dreadful shrill, something a bit more zen-like would get you going nicely, there are plenty of fun apps out there), putting a sticky note with a fun doodle on them on the side of your screen or simply using times when you finish something and are about to start on another task.
So what are you waiting for? You have just finished reading, the perfect time to take a break now!
Our Health@Work Summit 2016 on the 12th May, in London, will be looking at the link between wellbeing, happiness and productivity, for more information click here.
- Using technology at work - 13 June 2016
- Connecting to your inner productivity - 31 May 2016
- The one-minute break secret - 19 January 2016
- Burnout or not burnout, that is the question! - 17 November 2015
- Not stressed enough? - 13 October 2015
- Taking performance to the next level - 30 June 2015
- Presenteeism: the virtually absent worker - 10 June 2015
- Work-minded or mindfully aware? - 11 May 2015
- How to use technology and not let it use your employees - 28 April 2015
- A mindful day at work: what does it really mean? - 8 April 2015