You should not feel guilty for taking a break

Are we just keen on making an impression or winning an award for the most committed worker of the year.

Some of us just can’t stop. As if stopping means having no air left in our lungs.

There are just a few emails you have to send out before the end of the day, a phone call to make before leaving home, someone needing our attention so badly that our break needs to wait.

Does this sound all too familiar to you?

Well, according to research rushing around without taking quality breaks is bad for your brain. A growing body of scientific evidence explains what many of us have learned from an unpleasant experience.

If you push yourself through too many hours or days of work, your brain starts to push back. Ideas that once flowed easily dry up, and tasks that you should be able to perform quickly become extremely difficult. You need to give your brain, and yourself, some rest.

It is necessary to pause in the middle of a long project for a few minutes and do something completely different. Turns out stitching our attention to a simple task like a game gives a different part of our brain the opportunity to step in and problem solve.

Try it: You'll find you work better and more efficiently if you let your subconscious handle part of the load.

The world will still be here waiting for a few minutes while you take that break. You will definitely not lose the best employee award for taking a short break.

The psychological benefits outweigh the negatives.

Working yourself to the ground will only create mistakes and long term stress and burnout. You may not be the only one who will pay a dear price.

Your loved ones stand to suffer the effects too.

Avoid overworking yourself, if you “drop” today, there will be a replacement tomorrow.

Your wellbeing is important.

By: Dr. Annie Gaisie, Psychologist - Addictive Behaviour.

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