The Power of Taking Breaks: Boost Productivity and Creativity in Your Life
Feb 28, 2024
Jennifer Lander
Welcome to another episode of Landing Imperfect. Today, we are delving into the importance of taking time off. Jen shares her insights on how breaks and vacations can enhance productivity and creativity. She emphasizes the need for rest and relaxation, drawing from her own experiences and those of her family members. Join us as we explore the science behind the benefits of taking breaks and the impact it can have on our work and personal lives.
Welcome to another episode of Landing Imperfect. Today, we are delving into the importance of taking time off. Jen shares her insights on how breaks and vacations can enhance productivity and creativity. She emphasizes the need for rest and relaxation, drawing from her own experiences and those of her family members. Join us as we explore the science behind the benefits of taking breaks and the impact it can have on our work and personal lives.
You guys, I have to take a minute to share with you an amazing store that just opened up a few weeks ago in Geneva, Ohio. Ben bargains aims to make your shopping experience affordable while providing quality products at unbeatable prices. And when I say on beautiful prices, that is exactly what I mean. They offer the most incredible highlight items in their bins. Insane deals, a few things that they've thrown in there.$7 bins are a PlayStation five AirPods iPads. Amazing toys for over a hundred dollars home decor. I mean, you never know what high quality highlight items they're going to add to their bins. Lots of wonderful retail that can fill your house at prices. You won't believe. New inventory every Friday and restock for more goods on Saturdays for their$7 Ben days. I know he keeps saying$7 Ben days. I don't think I've mentioned this, but the most you will pay for their bin items is$7. My mind is blown. They have Sam's club and target clothing brands high seriously could go on and on about how amazing the store is. And the owners, Jeff and Heather bedroom. They bust their butts to provide you guys with the best deals and experience in their store. Their staff is so welcoming and friendly. I'm telling you, you make your way over to Ben bargains located at seven 11 east main street, Geneva, Ohio. And you will know exactly what I'm talking about. Stay up to date with them on Facebook at Ben bargains, where they often share their deals and you can find their hours and Ben prices there as well. So happy shopping Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode. So today I wanted to talk to you guys about the importance of taking time off. And this is a very fitting episode for where I'm at in my life right now, because I am getting ready to fly out from Ohio to Arizona. With my family for spring training and I cannot wait. I am so excited. So, whether you work full-time part-time, whether you're an employer, you have your own business and entrepreneur, or maybe you stay home regardless. It is taking time off from work, or it is just simply allowing yourself breaks I think a lot of us often associate productivity with working longer hours, but the science behind this tells us that taking regular breaks and time off actually enhances our productivity. Our brains have limited cognitive resources and just continuous work without breaks will deplete those resources. So taking time off allows our brains to replenish and restore these resources, which can help us with things. Like being able to focus. Being able to pay attention to things and just having this overall mental clarity. And studies have also shown us that taking breaks, brief breaks during work. Like taking a walk or just engaging in a different activity can significantly improve our productivity and our performance so a little tidbit about me is. Typically during lunch break. What I like to do is I'll either take a walk. If I'm at home, I'll take a walk with my dogs. If I'm at work, then I'll just take a walk through or around the building. And then what I also like to do is if it's too cold outside or, I'm not up for a walk, then I like to watch the middle. Or just a funny comedy. Sit-com something like that. And let me tell you, even that small little break where I'm switching gears and I'm focusing on something that isn't, work-related. When I come back to work after lunch, I just feel more refreshed. So I definitely encourage you to do the same. Don't be checking your emails. Don't be doing anything. Work-related having conversations about work. if it's not absolutely urgent, then please, please take that time for yourself. It's important for our brains to have a little RNR so that rest and relaxation, because it helps. With creativity and just that innovative thinking. When we step away from work, our minds are able to wander and it just leads to periods where new ideas can surface and certain solutions can emerge also. And because we're all about research today. Research has shown that people who regularly take breaks or they take vacations, they experience a boost in their creative thinking and their ability to problem solve, I am going to bring up this conversation, that me and my sister-in-law were having the other day. And I don't think she'll mind. So she just opened a business with my brother in Geneva, Ohio, and it's called Ben bargains. And they have been busting their butts. They are doing incredible work over there, but it is a lot of work I mean, they are grinding day in and day out. Just no break, honestly, when I'm even on the phone with her, she is working constantly, she's always like, oh, I'm so sorry. I'm checking this. I'm checking that. And I'm just along for the ride because I know how hard she's working. but anyways, I got sidetracked. So we were talking about. they just recently went on. A vacation for my brother. He turned 40 and they spent four or five days. On the beach and they felt like that was just such an amazing experience for them because it took them outside of their responsibilities with work. Not completely because you never truly are when you're an entrepreneur, but you know what I mean? So they were able to just step away and have that time and space for themselves. And they were coming up with new ideas And I honestly, I'm not someone who believes don't bring work home with you or don't ever talk about work. I think that that can work for some people, but for other people, that's a big part of their lives and they find a lot of fulfillment and joy out of it. So if that's you, then I encourage you to have those types of conversations, even outside of work. I think it's great. So for them. When they got back, they were hitting the ground running. They had new ideas. There was another level of energy that they were coming with because before they were kind of depleted, they were just. I think they were just exhausted and tired. So they had that time for themselves where they could relax. And I saw the energy shift when they came back and they are just planning for the next step. They're so excited. So that just shows you the power of taking that break for yourselves. But continuous work without taking breaks can lead to this decision fatigue, where we find that our ability to make good sound decisions starts to diminish over time. And I can speak to this because it was around, it probably was around COVID. So 2020, or even 2021. For my work, I have five weeks of PTO. And that year, I only took two weeks off total. I learned real quick. That that is a no-no for me. I need to take my full five weeks or at least close to it because two weeks just wasn't enough. Especially if you're in a position where. There's a lot of critical thinking going on and you're working with patients It can really make a difference. If you are taking that time for yourself to recharge your battery and replenish your mindset so that you can provide the service that I know you're working so hard to provide to other people. When we're working for an extended period of time without any breaks, it just leads to de-motivation honestly. And I think a reduction in. How satisfied you feel at your job? And this extends further out side of work as well. Because as a mom, I know when my kids were really little and they depended on me so much more than they do now. I would frequently feel like that it would be weeks and weeks before I would get any type of relief or break sometimes. And that was between me and my husband going to school, us, both working and then having two little kids trying to take care of them. It was just a lot. So. Most of the time with childcare or anything like that when you're having someone watch your kids so that you can work or you can study. So it's hard to ask them again, Hey, do you think you can watch them another time so that now I can take a break? It can be a lot, but it is still so important to find that time for yourself. Whether, like I said, it's for work and it's taking that time off or even. Having kids and being a parent. Anything that you need just, you can feel it when it's happening that, Hey, I think I need a break. It's take the break, find whatever you find a way to do it basically is what I'm trying to say, because it's really going to help you show up in a different way. In a way that you can feel more refreshed. So do what you gotta do. So you can find that time. I mean, we really want to try to prevent burnout here and we want to show up to our jobs and for our families, we want to have that work-life balance. We want to have the balance, whether you're at work or you're a stay-at-home parent or someone who stays at home, you just want to feel enthusiastic. You want your energy levels to be high? You want to be creative? You want to feel fulfilled. You have to make sure that you're taking that break for yourself. And with that being said, I'm going to end this so that I can go pack for my vacation. And if you were in the north, you know how exciting this is for me to be flying out so I can get some sunshine and some warmth on my skin. I can not wait to have this time with my family and just to recharge my battery. So I hope you guys have a beautiful day and I'll see you next week. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of landing imperfect. I truly appreciate you being a part of this community and sharing this journey with me. If you do want to connect further, then don't hesitate to follow me on Instagram at Jen dot Lander. I would love to hear your thoughts, any questions or any stories that you want to share. So, DME there, I also have a website. It's a landing and perfect website where I share a blog post about my podcast, and then you can join my email list. I have a PDF that provides anxiety and stress management tools that you can. And use as well when you join my email list. So check it out. My website will be linked in my show notes. So don't hesitate to reach