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| "Drinks on a beach sounds like a pretty good holiday to me." - OddballGreg |
Work can be hard. I know this, and you probably know this. But some studies of late have been showing that taking breaks is actually good for you. (Imagine that...) Admittedly, they have told us that we been taking the wrong kind of breaks, and mentioned what the right kind of breaks are. Lets talk about that.
In this new era of technology, more and more people are using computers to do their work. One of the effects of this is staring at a bright screen for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. This can put a lot of strain on your body and there are studies that have proven that your eyes may strain too much when focusing on a fixed distance that is close to you, for long periods of time. This may cause eye pain and discomfort and some say that you can relieve this discomfort or eye strain by taking 10-15 minutes every hour and a half to every 2 hours just to focus into the distance to relieve your eyes from the strain. This helps to refocus, but you must try and not look at any type of screen while you do so.
Talking about taking breaks, it is more effective to steal small breaks during work, than taking one long break. These little breaks that people do can be something like getting up to make a cup of coffee, check your phone for messages, talking with colleagues or even checking social media sites (not recommended). These little breaks help relieve prolonged focus, along with stress in some cases. They allow you to rest for a second and consider some of the things you have done, and see how best to carry on.
When sitting in the same spot for a really long time, your buttocks may get a bit tender. Another study has shown that when you take breaks you should try and get out of your chair and stretch, walk around or lay down. This relieves the pressure from those regions and allows proper blood flow, thus decreasing the tenderness.
Holidays have also been proven to be good for you, some reasons being obvious while others such as decreasing blood pressure, improving sleep quality and allowing you to recover from stress rather easily once you go back have been proven; they also improve your cognitive function as you have less things bothering you afterwards. Now granted that everyone is not the same, but it still might help everyone to some degree. These holidays can be anything from taking 2 days off to just relax at home to going to the Caribbean for a week.
After all of this you still need to get things done. This is where motivation can play a big part, if you want to get everything done that needs to be done, then it is a good idea to motivate yourself to do so. Some good things to do are; planning your day out to get the largest tasks done in the morning, when you have the most energy, as later on in the day you might find you get very tired and then finally put it off until the next day. The hardest thing to do is start, but luckily once people have started something they usually want to finish it, because this is basic human nature.
Try and get rid of things that might be distracting you. Tv and social media are the main villains in the movie that is your life. Once you have removed those from your daily routine you should find that you become that much more productive. Organization is also a good way to do things as well, like if everything has a place and it is always there, then you never have to spend more than the necessary time looking for these things. If you work at a desk with papers, then try and make specific piles of documents that have similar aspects. Sticky notes are your friend as they allow you to write what needs to be done on things. That way you can't forget what each thing needs, but I would also recommend files of some sort.
All of these things can lead to being more productive, over the long term, with decreased risk of strain, stress and increased health. So if you are feeling a bit stressed and overworked, m suggestion: take a break. If you enjoyed today's post or would like to tell us about any holidays that you really enjoyed, or have suggestions on how others can become more productive, then please let us know down in the comments, over Facebook or on Twitter. If you know of anyone that is very stressed at work, or never meets their deadlines, then please share this with them as they just might need it. If you would like to see when new posts are up or would like to show us your support, please like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter with the associated buttons on the bar to the left. I thank you for taking the time for reading today's post and I hope your day was/will be spectacular. I shall write again overmorrow.
Farewell my productive friends
