Should taking breaks on peak workdays be normalized?
There is a beautiful phrase in Italian “Il dolce far niente” which means the sweetness of doing nothing. Suppose it's a hectic day of the work week. Probably your Outlook calendar is hustling with meeting reminders and you have a tedious schedule. And yet you feel you want to escape from everything, from the cacophony of the digital conundrums, and seek quiet. Rooting for my Bengali heritage, here I would like to share how we Bengalis explore the same state of mind, popularly known as “Lyadh” when we feel like being vacant and uncannily pensive. Even if you don't have medical appointments, no domestic or family chores to settle, and also perhaps nowhere to go. You just feel to cherish the sweetness of doing nothing and giving yourself a chance to celebrate yourself and appreciate being you.
This can be also extended from the workplace to even in the household when you need to take a break from your partner, kids, parents, or even roomies and just need to rejoice in your very own personal space. Yes according to standard work ethics, it can be well placed that we are allotted such days to explore ourselves during the “weekends”. But speaking of mindfulness, can we really vouch for satiating our mental nourishment by strictly doing nothing exclusively on weekends? I might want to retire on a busy Wednesday, go for a coffee, and enjoy doing nothing. Should these be normalized in workplaces, given a choice, an employee or a manager be given an opportunity to take a break on short notice instead of trading it for state-of-the-art sick leaves? We do need breaks, I presume even if it’s not a weekend. In challenging work environments, I presume the work councils must stand for such leaves, to address mental soundness and productivity in a healthy working environment. Well, it's obvious that there are plenty of such options and terminologies that could be addressed in that universal set of applicable leaves, but normalizing and accepting the “Il dolce far niente” concept in the workplace and in familiar ménages could be a big step to restoring better productivity and ensure invigorating work-life balance. I suppose all we need is a little space for ourselves, and that too on a busy workday.
