To Increase Your Productivity, Do Nothing
Doing Nothing is Doing A Lot
Some days, the idea of increasing my productivity is about as appealing as repeatedly slamming my head against my desk. The last thing I need when I am working as hard as I can to put off working as hard as I can is another listicle with ten steps on how to improve my productivity. I’d rather continue watching cat videos on YouTube, thank you very much.
Fortunately, you’ll be pleased to learn that this article is not another pep talk about working harder and longer. Quite the opposite. I’m writing to encourage you to do less, more often. Seriously. Just stop. Take your fingers off the keyboard, put down your glasses and go and take a break… after you’ve finished reading this, of course.
I know, I know. This seems counter-intuitive. You are worried about what your boss might think, right? According to a survey by Tork :
- Nearly 20% of North American workers worry their bosses won’t think they are hardworking if they take regular breaks, while 13% worry their co-workers will judge them.
- 38% of employees don’t feel encouraged to take a break.
- 22% of North American bosses say that employees who take a regular break are less hardworking.
