When NOT to take a break

Do you feel that when you get down to work, you work for 15 minutes at a time but take breaks for half an hour? Perhaps you are taking more breaks and doing less work. So how do you understand when is the time to NOT take the break, but continue working.

Is this your attitude too?

When the work is repetitive and boring.
Sometimes we have no option but to do monotonous work. It becomes very difficult in such a situation to keep up the concentration and there is a tendency to keep taking regular breaks. But one needs to understand that taking extra breaks will not change the task at hand nor make it more interesting when we get back to it after the break. Thus, it is more sensible to take lesser breaks and concentrate on finishing the work quicker.

When you cannot afford one.
When the work pressure is too much and the time available is too little, you simply cannot afford to take a break. There is no time to relax. In such a situation, you gotta keep going on. Come to terms with the fact that some more work load will not really kill you. So put your chin up and get on with it.

After successfully completing a task.
Its a very common human tendency to rest on your laurels. Once you have finished a difficult task, you want to take a break ,irrespective whether you are tired or not. It is one of the ways a man celebrates - by taking a break. However, sometimes when you are on a high ( and I don't mean alcohol), it is the best time to get on with your toughest tasks, something you have been postponing for a long time.

Rest is important. Even God rested on the 7th day after creating the world. But ensure that you do not inculcate the habit of resting before you are tired!

What to do in a Break? - The Do's and Dont's

Guys, I am sure that many of few face a similar problem that I did earlier:
You are working fine. You decide to take a break but when you come back, you are not working as  efficiently as you were before. Or even worse - you don't even return to work after that break.

Now a lot has to do with how you spend the break. Just like you need to plan your work efficiently, you have to do the same with your relaxing period. Here are do's and dont's of a break.

Do's

1. Spend time with your close ones. (One of the best things to do)

2. Dance/Sing (a physical way of reducing stress)

3. Revisit a photo album with memories of your good times!

4. Take a walk

5. Meditate

6. Pursue your hobby

7. Listen to music

8. Take a nap (provided its a long break)

9. Bathe (take a refreshing cold water shower)

10. Gossip (specially for the ladies, if that makes you happy)

Dont's

1. Watch TV/Movies

2. Go on social networking websites

3. Play outdoor sports (increase physical fatigue)

4. Play games like Chess, Minesweeper (increases mental fatigue)

5. Make work plans or To-Do-Lists (you are supposed to forget about work during your break)

6. Booze/ Get stoned (for obvious reasons)

7. Worry about the remaining part of the task.

Try not to do things during the break which are addictive (Facebook) or tiring (physical or mental). Remember, you take a break to recharge your mental batteries and feel fresh when you get back to the task. So try out a few of these methods and see which works best for you!

How to Spend a Long Break/Vacation from work

Sometimes we have the good fortune of getting an extended break from the daily hustle-bustle of work. In today's competitive world, such a vacation is like gold dust. But it shall help you refresh yourself only if you make proper use of it.

Here are a few of my pointers on how to utilize the break apart from the usual "go to for a vacation to the sea side, countryside" that you must have already heard of.


Hook on to a TV series.
Lost, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes etc are all very popular TV series. And the thing with them is that they are very addictive. Once you get hooked on to it, it is very difficult to let go. So buy/download only as much as you have time. It would be really difficult for you if you spend your day at the office wondering what happens in the next episode of Prison Break. ;-)




Watch Movies. 
I make a list of all good movies I want to see in my phone. Whenever I get a break, I watch all of them. You could do the same and watch 3-4 movies a day and feel better. The light-hearted comedies are a personal favorite.




Go back to your Play Station.
A younger me would play Fifa for 8 -10 hours a day during the summer breaks in school. I love to call over my friends whenever I have time and try to relive those days. Apart from the sheer bliss of controlling Messi's moves with my remote, playing video games always brings back memories of those days when the biggest worry of my life was my mother scolding me and telling me to leave the game and eat lunch.




Go for a hiking or adventure trip.
Call over some friends and make a plan to go hiking or exploring a new unknown, place - preferably a wilderness or a forest or a hilly terrain. The excitement of exploring a new place always makes me forget the tensions of my daily life.




Catch up on the games of your favorite team.
It must have been a while since you followed your favorite team like you did back in your college days. Pull out your old team jersey and root for your team like the earlier days.


Hope you enjoy your vacation!

5 Signs That You Need A Break.

No man can keep working all the time. Forget 24*7, one cannot even work for 3 to 4 hours without a break.

So, when do you realize that you need to take a break?

1. When you find yourself stuck on the same page.
Often when the mind is not sufficiently rested, you find yourself reading the same page without anything being recorded by the brain, or writing a report but stuck at the same point for quite some time.

2. Facebook and Twitter start looking attractive.
After a long period of continuous work, you feel like logging on to Facebook, Twitter or YouTube (or nowadays Angry Birds) every few minutes. Almost unconsciously your hand starts typing out your FB username and password. This is the time to take a break. Its better meditate or go out for a walk than indulge in social networking sites.

3. You keep looking at the time.
To check how much time is left before you can leave. A man wanting to get out of office cannot do effective work. Either leave immediately (if your boss is a very nice man and lets you do so) or take a break, try to refresh yourself and come back for a short burst of work.

4. When you are unable to concentrate any more.
When after a long period of work, you are unable to keep going at the same pace, take a break. The mind suddenly starts thinking about a walk in the garden outside, or a coffee/washroom break.

5. When you are thinking about everything other than the work at hand.
Sometimes when you have other pressing things, or people, on your mind, it is not possible to concentrate on the task you are supposed to do. Either solve that problem first and put your mind to rest. If its not possible, tell yourself that you can do nothing about it, so its better to get on with your work. (Easier said than done though!)

Realize when your body is demanding a break and act accordingly.