Are You Taking a Much-Needed Break – Or Just Being Lazy?

It’s ten thirty in the morning. You’ve been working for an hour or two, so you decide to read your favorite blogs for a bit, and check out some web comics.

But you feel a bit guilty. After all, shouldn’t you be powering through your work?

No-one can work effectively for hours at a stretch – especially on tasks which require a lot of mental energy (like writing, planning strategy, designing, and anything involving creativity).

So you need to take breaks. You’ll actually find that you get more done in a day where you stop for ten minutes out of every hour than on a day when you keep on and on working. Why? Because when you force yourself to stick with a task, you’ll slow down. You’ll end up checking your emails, getting distracted, or staring at the screen in front of you, feeling like your brain’s already gone home.If you’re getting stressed out with a particular task, or if you feel like you’re almost out of energy, then take a break. Ten minutes to walk around the office (or ideally, to get outside and grab some fresh air and sunlight) can make a surprising difference to your ability to concentrate.

If you’re self-employed, or if you’re working on personal projects at home, try some of these:

Take a half-hour break to go for a walkTake twenty minutes to read a chapter of a novelTake fifteen minutes to tidy up your work area (decluttering is a great way to get your thoughts flowing again)Take ten minutes to dance around the room to some great tunes (great way to re-energize if you’re feeling sluggish!)

Ideally, you want to get away from your computer. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to let “work” and “break” times slide into one another.

Sometimes, you feel like you want a break when you’ve only just started. Perhaps you’ve sat down at nine am on a Saturday morning to work on that website you’re creating for your small business – but you feel exhausted already.

Creative tasks involve some degree of natural resistance – even when you love doing them. Most writers will tell you that, although they enjoy writing, they find themselves cleaning the house or doing the dishes when it’s writing-time – anything to delay getting started.

This sense of resistance doesn’t mean that there’s anything wrong with you, or with the task at hand. The best way through it is simply to make a start.

Have you ever put off doing something, for months – maybe even years – because it felt like it was going to be such a pain? Cleaning the garage, sorting out the attic, getting your files organized … whatever it was, you eventually made a start, and somehow it wasn’t really that bad after all.

If you’re struggling to get going, or if you manage a half-hearted ten minutes on a task only to start thinking “I need a break”, then try:

Just opening the document (or filing cabinet, etc). Simply looking at the task at hand can get you into the mood to do it.Setting a timer for fifteen minutes, and working solidly for that time. Either you’ll get on a roll and carry on – or you’ll at least make some real progress.Promising yourself a reward. Perhaps you’ll treat yourself to lunch out once you’ve finished that chapter, or a long bath after finally getting the garage tidy.

We slide into procrastination when we let those feelings of resistance and laziness get the better of us. I’m sure you know exactly what I mean: you’ll have had days which started with great intentions, but turned into a lot of unproductive web surfing.

Even if you believe you’re just someone who procrastinates or who isn’t very focused, you can change that. Getting a good structure to your day really helps:

Work for focused periods of time. If you’re struggling, try thirty minutes working followed by a thirty minute break to do something fun. Then experiment with different time intervals – e.g. an hour’s work followed by a thirty minute break.When you’re working, work. If you get stuck, don’t automatically check your emails or go onto Twitter. Go onto a different section of your work, or try brainstorming your way through the problem.Give yourself permission to have fun. Sure, you can use all your breaks to get the dishes done or finish your filing – but if what you really want to do is play a computer game, do that. Just make sure you stop once break-time is over.

How do you know when you need a break from your work? And how do you distinguish between genuinely needing to give your brain a rest – and simply feeling lazy?

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How To Break Bad Habits

Do you talk over people during conversations?

Do you bite your nails when you are nervous?

Do you drink like a fish or pop pills like a pharmacist?

Have you ever told a lie to get a point across?

Have you ever ignored the people you were with for a better conversation with someone on your cell phone?

Has your recent predicament made you so worried that you can’t focus on anything?

Good, you are human. Each and every person on this earth has habits rather good or bad. There are just some things that we tend to do automatically. They have become so repetitive that they almost seem natural. Habits are inherently neutral but speaking for myself I seem to have more bad ones than good and I think I would greatly benefit from turning the tables. So how do you break bad habits?

WHAT IS A HABIT?

Now in order to break a bad habit you must have a clear understanding of what a habit is. Habits are behaviors that are repeated automatically without any thought or intent. They are so routine that they happen subconsciously. Many of them are created by repetition of a reaction to a specific situation or a measurable amount of positive stimuli.

We all have habits, good and bad, that effect how we respond in various situations. Take me for example. Whenever I get a chance to watch my favorite show Man vs. Wild I must have an ice cold glass of milk and Oreos. That is my good habit. J My bad habit is throwing my dirty clothes on a recliner chair in our bedroom that drives my wife nuts. She thinks we should use the chair for sitting. I use it as a dirty clothes hamper. We have agreed to disagree.

THE STEPS

In an attempt to stay married, for at least another year, I have decided it would be best to get rid of my unproductive habit. Here are a few steps that I have taken on my long road to self improvement that I think will help you as well. Some are easier than others. Good Luck.

Step One

Recognize your habits

You might not notice that every word that comes out of your mouth is negative. Maybe your compulsive drinking habit doesn’t bother you at all. The nature of habits makes them sometimes difficult to detect. They happen on a subconscious level. So if you don’t have your wife screaming at you to stop leaving your clothes in the chair they may require some personal reflecting to identify them. Others may stick out like a person wearing a ‘Go Lebron’ t-shirt at a Cleveland Cavaliers game. Take some time and examine yourself to recognize you habits, good and bad.

Step Two

Replace bad habits with a positive alternative

In my own progression towards becoming a better me and avoiding annoying my wife I have decided to put my dirty clothes in the – wait for it – dirty clothes hamper. This has done some amazing things at my home. For one I don’t have to get screamed at for throwing my clothes in the chair. Secondly I have a comfy chair to drink my ice cold milk and eat Oreos in. It was win-win scenario.

It is best to select an alternative that will have benefits that are apparent and numerous. This will help you maintain the momentum and create a good habit instead of a bad one.

Ex: If you sit in a chair and eat Oreos while watching TV it might be better to run on a treadmill while you watch TV and eat you Oreos. By using this technique you will burn the calories that you gain from eating cookies and improve your endurance for other things.

Step Three

Focus on the positive alternative instead of avoiding the negative one.

Spend your energy and focus on creating positive habits that will benefit you. I don’t know about you but when I try to avoid something intentionally I usually end up doing it because it is always on mind. Alter your focus on modeling good behaviors. In my situation I started by trying to avoid throwing my belongings in the chair. Now I try to make sure I clean up the room every night before I go to bed. Guess what happens when I clean up? The chair often ends up empty until Man vs. Wild comes on.

Bad habits can be broken and good ones acquired but they require the same amount of repetition and consistency that you put in the negative ones. I hear it only takes 21 days to form a habit. I will let you know I am on day 2.

Now it is your turn. I am looking for some help on breaking a bad habit. Share your thoughts and links below I can’t wait to read them.

Frank Jennings is a freelance writer and the founder of A Spark Starts -  ‘All it takes is one spark to start a fire that can change your life!’

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