soooo… i was just thinking about a friend who was uncomfortable about taking even a few weeks off of work.
she didn’t need the money. not working made her uncomfortable. maybe she felt lost not working, maybe she used work to fill her time to distract herself.
i can relate, like her inner voice is like mine, it goes something like this:
what if you can’t pay your bills. you’re letting the family down by taking a break. you’ll be left behind. people’ll judge you if you’re not grinding…
so, you feel like you need to work. can’t take a short/long break. you have to work. i’ve been there; i still go there sometimes, but a lot less often.
how often during a day / week are you working because it’s …
useful / valuable, Vs
enjoyable Vs
‘cover your ass’ reports or facetime, vs
falling into the “more is better” trap (Aka hustleporn) vs
you aren’t sure what else to do Vs
other?
how often are you moving to something at work vs. away from it?
how often do you move towards working… this is exciting! this is interesting! i’m looking forward to meeting this person / doing this project. i enjoy thinking about these things. i’m having fun with these people, on the phone / drinking these beers / at this whiteboard…
taking more breaks helps you reset and reorient. and - with the remote work world executives (or anyone that needs brainpower and emotional smarts) cannot work the same long weeks!! gotta cut the hours back.
“Ok, still how do we get better at taking breaks?”
reframe breaks as an investment in yourself and biz/family (then practice appreciating them for their own sake vs. justifying them to yourself or anyone)
practice taking more breaks.
air
PS: speaking of enjoyable work, i just joined the board of fast-growing $25m+ Cognism (release)… if you know another fast growing SaaS company looking for a board member or sales advisor, connect ‘em to me!
a sample of the impressive Cognism team…
see, i fit right in!
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