When I started working 12 years ago, it was all about the hustle and the grind. Every hour was about how to stay peek productive. Only to realise over time that you only burn yourself more by doing so. More than burn - it’s like a crash.
I think this image below really summarises how I think about productivity now.
Time off is an important aspect of staying productive. Let’s call them the hourly, daily, weekly, and the super breaks.
Hourly breaks
Most of us are sitting in our chairs, staring into our laptops and mobile devices. All those nits into your eyes surely have long terms effects. I am using basic tech to keep me away from tech.
For the eyes there is the 20-20-20 exercise to reduce eye strain. It is basically looking away from the screen every 20 mins, at the object which is more than 20 feet away from more than 20 seconds. You can also check out this post on how to reduce eye strain.
Stand up breaks - I use a Mi Band which reminds me to stand up every hour and do a mini walk in the house.
Desk stretches - Every alternate hour simple stretches for the neck, wrists, shoulders and lower back. Also never underestimate the importance of a good chair since you are spending a lot of time on it.
Breathing techniques - Try out this simple called Calmaria
Daily breaks
This is basically workouts, books, music, videos, movies, walks, catchup with friends / family and even not doing anything at all. Not doing anything at all without feeling guilty is a super power. The daily breaks mostly include doing or learning things which are totally tangential from work. Love this quote by Matthew Kobach where he says “If you're reading, watching, or listening to the right things, learning is as just as much fun as being entertained”
Weekly Breaks
Weekend breaks are intensified versions of the daily breaks. Also weekends are for side projects. I currently run 2 side projects GoLimitless and DesignMinimal which keep me engaged during the weekends. I wrote in detail about how side projects are super essential for me, how they help me become better and how I manage them. Also weekends are a lot of movies :)
Super Breaks
Super breaks is disconnecting from work. For the team that comes in different forms. Every quarter the whole team heads out to a resort which the team decides on. Every year the entire team also travels out of the city for 3-4 days. These are some of the best moments of unwork (I don’t think that’s a word) which we cherish a lot. At NFN Labs it’s also mandatory for everyone to take a 14 day vacation from work once a year.
We have been working from our home for a long time now and we decided to take the whole week off from August 10th. One, because we can afford to do so. And two, we work with the best partners who understand why breaks are important - especially during the current situation. Super breaks allow us to disconnect and power up and it has worked wonders for us.
All these hourly, daily, weekly and super breaks help us to stay calm and carry on - just the way we like it. “It doesn’t have to be crazy at work”.
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Totally agree on the quote from mkoback