What We're Reading Now

Take More Breaks and Get More Done

19 February 2013

Allison read Relax! You’ll Be More Productive and was glad to see Tony Schwartz practicing what he preaches and reaping the rewards. (Maybe you should consider working less so you can get more done, too.)

Tags: allison read, balance, circadian rhythm, productivity

If you were on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, then you probably saw some links to this article from The New York Times on 9 February 2013. I think a lot of us are attracted to the idea that relaxation could be the key to productivity, but are unsure about how to make the necessary behavior changes. Fortunately, Schwartz provides compelling arguments and specific suggestions for a new way to approach your day.

Schwartz has been writing and consulting about how to manage your energy (renewable) instead of your time (finite) for many years. When I teach our Choosing Balance and Leadership course, I have people read his 2007 Harvard Business Review article and take the short quiz to assess their energy before they come to class. (You can find a blog post I wrote about the article as well as a link to the 60-second quiz here.)

In this latest article, Schwartz explains another way to manage your energy more effectively. The 1950s research on 90-minute sleep cycles by Dement and Kleitman was later proven by Kleitman to play out in our waking lives as well. “…during the day we move from a state of alertness progressively into physiological fatigue approximately every 90 minutes. Our bodies regularly tell us to take a break, but we often override these signals and instead stoke ourselves up with caffeine, sugar and our own emergency reserves – the stress hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol.” Rather than fight this biological need for breaks and powering through the next task, we should instead build breaks into our day and stop feeling guilty about needing them so that we actually work more effectively.

I like just about everything Schwartz writes, but what I especially appreciate about this article is that he shares a story about how what he advises actually made a difference in his own life. “For my first three books, I sat at my desk for up to 10 hours a day. Each of the books took me at least a year to write. For my two most recent books, I wrote in three uninterrupted 90-minute sessions – beginning first thing in the morning, when my energy was highest – and took a break after each one. Even renewal requires practice. The more rapidly and deeply I learned to quiet my mind and relax my body, the more restored I felt afterward….Writing just four and a half hours a day, I completed both books in less than six months and spent my afternoons on less demanding work.”

It’s a good idea to have at least one of your breaks involve some physical activity and another have a mindfulness component. However, I’ve also made this system work in my own life by breaking for a talk with a friend, a quick errand, freewriting, playing with my dog, writing notes to my niece and nephews, and watching the first 10 minutes of The Daily Show or SportsCenter. Schwartz and others also recommend a good night's sleep as a foundation for this approach, a healthy snack or lunch (away from your desk) and the 20-minute afternoon nap (hard to do for some of us, but often worth the effort of learning how to nap in this way). Whatever your breaks may be, I encourage you to give this a try for a few weeks and see if you feel better and get more done. Please let me know how it works for you.

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