Stepping Away From Your Work Skillfully Can Trick Your Brain To Be More Productive
Do you work long hours believing it’s the most effective way to get your tasks completed? If you do, then you’re not alone – it’s a common perception held by many that ultimate performance is achieved through time and effort and often think this is how to be more productive in our work life.
Our productivity is like a rubber band stretching to its capacity. Working harder is adding extra stretch to the rubber band but it’s futile because the rubber band will only end up over-stretching and break. When we put so much effort and hard work in one sitting, as tempting and productive as that can seem, it is counteracting how our brains work and finally our productivity levels deteriorate over time because we do not take the necessary breaks.
Taking Breaks Is Good For Your Productivity
Vacations are something we often look forward to but how much do we take advantage of these much needed breaks? A recent study found that employees who took vacations displayed higher levels of productivity, morale and improved job satisfaction.
A real-life story that validates the finding: Mark Douglas, the CEO of advertising and marketing company Steelhouse, wanted to boost both his employees work life satisfaction and his company’s overall success by paying his workers $2000 a year to take a vacation.
Surprisingly, through this policy, he has not only cultivated a sense of trust and increased overall happiness within his company, but he also found that people who come to work recharged are more productive!
Focused Mode And Diffused Mode
The reason taking time out for vacations and taking breaks is so great for our productivity has much to do with how our brains work. We have two types of thinking modes: focused mode and diffused mode.
Focused mode is when we spend long amounts of time on a task. It may involve marathon sessions of work, studying, memorising and problem-solving. Our brains focus entirely on what we need to do but can often lead to cramming too much in and believing getting something done all at once is ultimately productive but can lead to counter-productivity due to us not working at our best capacity.
Diffused mode is when we’re doing something else entirely and vaguely, sometimes subconsciously, thinking about what you are trying to solve. This happens when we take breaks and go on vacation – in other words, it’s creating a space where our subconscious mind is open to inspired action and problem-solving.
So by switching back and forth between these two modes, we’ll be more productive when switching back to a focused mode after spending time in the diffused mode during our breaks.
How To Be More Productive Through Taking Breaks
To learn how to be more productive, we actually need to adopt both modes of thinking. Switching between focused and diffused modes is where the magic happens. While it’s important for our mind to be focused by spending time retaining details, learn and concentrate at a task, we also need the space for our mind to be more free and open to let the subconscious mind take over and allowing the information to be processed more effectively.
That means you should break down your work schedule into smaller, regular sessions and make sure you take breaks in between to take advantage of the diffused mode. This could mean just switching off and taking a walk, exercising, listening to music or the ultimate break – taking a vacation.
We mustn’t underestimate the benefits we reap from taking time out and relaxing. If we make it all about focused mode we don’t take advantage of our brain’s true potential and ability to be at its most productive. So don’t shy away or judge yourself for stepping away from your work – you are doing your productivity and, ultimately, your career a massive favour.
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