Name your breaks

How to make rejuvenation feel more purposeful

As part of my next book, Big Time (out in May!), I had hundreds of people try out strategies that I believe can help anyone improve their time at work. One of those strategies is to take two short breaks each day where you do something restorative.

As often happens, I gave people an idea…and then they gave me great ideas back! For instance, one person mentioned that she was now naming her work breaks. For instance, she might take her official Morning Walk break. Or she might observe Afternoon Tea Time. Giving her breaks names meant that she wasn’t just half-heartedly checking personal email in between Zoom meetings. She had official things to do!

I absolutely love this idea. In an 8-hour work day, it might be wise to take one mid-morning break, a lunch break, and then a mid-afternoon break. Lunch already has a name. But what do you call those other ones?

Make it official

I could picture all sorts of things. If you decided to do the Headspace app for 10 minutes mid-morning that could be your Morning Meditation Break. A mid-afternoon walk might be your Afternoon Constitutional. Or perhaps you check in with a work friend in mid/late afternoon. This could be a Tea Time Tete a Tete. If you listen to upbeat music during a break, that could be your Motivation Moment.

You can see I like alliteration. Repeated sounds are easy to remember. But what I really like is figuring out what kinds of breaks you like to take, and then formalizing them at least to a degree. People do generally expect to take lunch. There’s a purpose to that break and it has a name. By giving other breaks names as well, you make them sound purposeful, and more like an expectation. It’s not just mid-afternoon and you’re tired. It’s Afternoon Constitutional Time. It’s not just mid-morning and you already can’t think straight because that last meeting was so ridiculous. It’s Morning Meditation Time!

Make it intentional

Your breaks don’t have to be the same every day, nor do they have to be different from each other within any given day, but most people do have certain things they know will reliably energize them. I certainly try to grab a walk most afternoons. By naming your breaks, you can turn what is sometimes an afterthought into more of a ritual. Rituals are more likely to happen — and if your breaks happen, you’ll be more productive. It really is as simple as that.