It\u2019s a counter-intuitive proposition. If you\u2019re working flat out but you still need to get more
\ndone, you should take some time doing nothing. As hard workers, we like to charge
\nourselves up and barrel through the job at hand without stopping until it\u2019s finished. But
\nguess what the experts say. They tell us that to up our productivity we should also up our
\ndowntime.<\/p>\n
Being productive isn\u2019t the same thing as being busy. Busy is being engaged in lots of
\nthings\u2014such as logging expenses, getting through your email inbox, all kinds of overhead
\ntasks. But those are outside your core business activities. As opposed to being busy, being
\nproductive means engaging in the things that directly impact your business goals\u2014such as
\nprospecting, supporting clients, completing a deliverable, all the things that boost your
\nrevenue. With just a few hours of focused work in these areas, you can have a very
\nproductive day.<\/p>\n
But experts say you can\u2019t achieve that level of productivity without taking a break. Even
\nmachines that run all the time have to stop every so often to refuel. The fuel for human
\nbeings is actually downtime\u2014quality time during which you switch off your mind and reset.<\/p>\n
When your work nonstop, your capabilities degrade as you put more time into the effort.
\nFor example, if you\u2019re having trouble understanding something you\u2019re reading, often the
\nlonger you dwell on it, the denser it becomes. Cleaning out your inbox without a break turns
\ninto a slower and slower process while new emails keep coming in.<\/p>\n
Working without a break can also lead to burnout. A survey of white-collar workers found
\nthey spent more than 50% of their days just taking in information before they were able to
\napply it in their work. Half of them said they often wound up feeling they simply couldn\u2019t
\nprocess the continuous stream of incoming data any longer. Working like this for days
\nwithout a break can soon burn you out.<\/p>\n
Working nonstop also puts a strain on your attention span. When you\u2019re learning something
\nnew, or trying to focus on a complex task, you have to take breaks before your attention
\nspan hits its limit. Experts say it takes five to fifteen minutes to make new information your
\nown. A break gives you the time to process that information.<\/p>\n
Taking a break is also a great way to generate fresh ideas. Studies show that rest and
\nrelaxation stimulate creative thinking. A break away from all the information and
\ninteractions we\u2019re hit with gives us space to think by ourselves.<\/p>\n
Just be sure that when you do take a break, it\u2019s a real one. Resist the temptation to check It\u2019s a counter-intuitive proposition. If you\u2019re working flat out but you still need to get more done, you should take some time doing nothing. As hard workers, we like to charge ourselves up and barrel through the job at hand without stopping until it\u2019s finished. But guess what the experts say. They tell us that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":617,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,14,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-success","category-time"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/06\/06-2021.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2021\/06\/06-2021.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/author\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/617"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advicoach.com\/va\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nnews, emails, or social media on your phone, laptop, or desktop. The point is to rest your
\nbody and your mind and just relax. Here\u2019s more on why downtime is good for your brain<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"