Take Breaks for Better Quality Work

Photo by Daria Nepriakhina on Unsplash

My project manager was out this week, so that meant I had less meetings than normal. Less meetings translates to more time. One thing I’ve learned as an Instructional Designer is my mind needs a break to think through how to be creative.

So, without the normal breaks of meetings, I had to learn to recognize when my brain needed a break.

Some signs you may need to take a break:

1. You start overthinking every decision. This includes what color a certain section should be. Your brain may be in decision fatigue and taking a short break could help.
2. You can’t hear yourself think. When you’re trying to edit a document and the words don’t make sense no matter how you read them, you may need to take a break. Stepping away from the words may let them settle in your mind and begin to make sense when you come back to them.
3. If you’re falling asleep at your desk. Go take a nap or get up and move so you’ll have more energy later.

Taking a break means I was able to come back more refreshed and with a different perspective. I like to think my work was even better.