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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to take a better break today. Everyone takes

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Speaker 1: breaks during the workday, whether they think they do or not.

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Speaker 1: So if you are going to take a break at

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Speaker 1: some point today, why not make it as rejuvenating and

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Speaker 1: wonderful as possible. In some lines of work, breaks are

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Speaker 1: formally built in. When I worked in a fast food

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Speaker 1: restaurant many years ago, an eight hour shift was scheduled

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Speaker 1: over nine hours because the working hours came with two

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Speaker 1: fifteen minute breaks and one thirty minute break. My coworkers

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Speaker 1: and I all took our fifteen minute breaks at set

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Speaker 1: staggered times to make sure enough people were manning the

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Speaker 1: kitchen and the registers. I imagine many people listening to

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Speaker 1: this podcast work in slightly different ways. Breaks aren't so

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Speaker 1: formally structured in your line of work. You work for

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Speaker 1: a while, and then you do something different that isn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily the core of your job until you resume work again.

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Speaker 1: When I have observed people and discussed their schedules, I've

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Speaker 1: noticed that these breaks often start unintentionally. Maybe you are

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Speaker 1: working on a report and mean to ask your colleague

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Speaker 1: about something you hope to include. You pop over to

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Speaker 1: your inbox to send a note. Then in your inbox

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Speaker 1: you see a headline about something designed to get your attention.

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Speaker 1: You click over to the article and read it, and

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Speaker 1: then read something else, or see a sports score and

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Speaker 1: have to go check that out, and next thing you know,

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Speaker 1: it can be twenty mins, minutes or more before you

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Speaker 1: resume work. Now, that twenty minute break was longer than

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Speaker 1: my restaurant's formally scheduled smoke breaks, that's what we called them,

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Speaker 1: whether you smoked or not, which I didn't. But many

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Speaker 1: people taking that headline reading break wouldn't even note it

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Speaker 1: has a break. It wasn't particularly rejuvenating or relaxing, and

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Speaker 1: since it wasn't scheduled ahead and intentionally taken, many people

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Speaker 1: might not even notice it. Then they might claim that

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Speaker 1: they don't take breaks. But everyone takes breaks, some are

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Speaker 1: intentional and some are not, Some are relaxing and some

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Speaker 1: are not. I would argue that since it is impossible

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Speaker 1: to spend an entire workday entirely focused on work, we

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Speaker 1: are all best off taking breaks intentionally so they can

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Speaker 1: be truly rejuvenating and not take more time than we

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Speaker 1: intend to give them. So as you think about your

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Speaker 1: day to day, aim to take a much better break.

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Speaker 1: You might look over your schedule and identify when you'd

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Speaker 1: be most likely to do something that is not your

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Speaker 1: core job. Lots of people feel unfocused and fatigued in

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Speaker 1: mid afternoon, so if you are not sure that's probably

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Speaker 1: a good time to aim for, then think about what

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Speaker 1: you could do in ten to fifteen minutes that would

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Speaker 1: boost your energy levels. Could you go for a quick walk,

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Speaker 1: Even if you can't leave your building, you might be

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Speaker 1: able to go up and down the stairs. You could

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Speaker 1: have a quick cup of tea with a colleague that

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Speaker 1: you enjoy. That's a much better way to socialize than

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Speaker 1: reading comments on online articles. You could read a book

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Speaker 1: or a magazine for a few minutes. If you think

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Speaker 1: people will look askance at this intentional break, just go

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Speaker 1: somewhere that they can't see you outside or your car,

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Speaker 1: or a faraway conference room or something like that. Of course,

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Speaker 1: if you work from home, you've got a lot more options.

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Speaker 1: You could do any sort of hobby, like practicing a

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Speaker 1: musical instrument, gardening, doing some artwork, or maybe a more

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Speaker 1: complicated workout. You could take your dog on a real

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Speaker 1: walk and get both of you some exercise and fresh air.

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Speaker 1: Picture what you would like to do today, and then

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Speaker 1: work out the logistics. If you plan to read and

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Speaker 1: you work in an office, make sure you bring your book.

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Speaker 1: If you'd like to go for a walk, make sure

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Speaker 1: you wear or bring shoes that would make that possible.

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Speaker 1: If you plan to practice your flute in your home office,

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Speaker 1: put your flute and your music in there so you

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Speaker 1: don't waste time looking for it when it's time to

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Speaker 1: take a break. Then at break time, execute on the play. Now,

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Speaker 1: you might need to be a little bit flexible. Maybe

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Speaker 1: your break happens a little earlier or maybe a little

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Speaker 1: bit later than you planned. Maybe a colleagues meeting runs long,

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Speaker 1: so you walk alone rather than with a group. Maybe

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Speaker 1: you take two shorter breaks instead of one longer one.

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Speaker 1: But I highly doubt that you can't make it work.

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Speaker 1: If you work in a job where breaks aren't scheduled,

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Speaker 1: but you think you work without ceasing, try observing your

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Speaker 1: time sometime and your activities just for a day and

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Speaker 1: see if there is any time spent on stuff other

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Speaker 1: than the core of your work. My guess is that

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Speaker 1: the answer is yes. If so, you will be better

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Speaker 1: off choosing those activities and acknowledging your break. You'll feel

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Speaker 1: more relaxed and like time is more within your control.

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Speaker 1: That little mindset shift can change everything. In the meantime.

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to

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Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,

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Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook

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Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod. That's b E the

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Speaker 1: number four then breakfast pod. You can also shoot me

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Speaker 1: an email at Before Breakfast Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com.

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Speaker 1: That before Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters.

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Speaker 1: Thanks so much, should I look forward to staying in touch.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.