I’m returning today for a quick check in because Taking Time Out for Productivity-for the SAKE of Productivity-has been on my mind lately. I’m working on incorporating small breaks into my daily practice and scheduling these into my days. This is one small way we can give ourselves a little self-love and take care of ourselves in a more nurturing and intentional way.
Time Out for Productivity can be an effective strategy in our daily lives to combat boredom, distraction, stress and a lack of inspiration!
Many experts agree on different methods of time out or scheduled boredom as some call it. The idea is to give yourself the space and time to breath, think or allow your mind to wander, to dream so that when you are deeply entrenched in a project you don’t get so easily distracted by all those “shiny objects”, whether they be emails, social media, politics/news, the kids, co-workers chatting in the next cubbie etc…
Time out can become a daily practice, stop once an hour if you work at your computer and get a drink, go to the bathroom, step outside or whatever. Come back refreshed and ready to focus again.
Once a day schedule a 10-15 min break to DO NOTHING! It’s a practice of mindfulness, daydreaming or even meditation.
Taking Time Out for Productivity and allow your mind to wander freely so that when you need it to stay focused it’s a little more cooperative.
This scheduled boredom can be sitting in a chair, lying down or however you are comfortable but you should be in a place where others will not disturb you (including phone’s, kids, pets or co-workers).
I’ve been working on incorporating both of these practices into my daily habits. Working from home required a great deal of discipline but I’m finding that these scheduled breaks really help me stay on task and focused when I really need to crank something out.
Do you schedule breaks or time out for yourself in your daily practices?