WEBVTT - Name your breaks

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 2>tip is to name your breaks. Taking regular breaks during

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<v Speaker 2>the workday tends to make people more productive, and we

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<v Speaker 2>tend to take things more seriously when they have formal names.

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<v Speaker 2>Naming your breaks just might nudge you to actually take them.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip comes from a participant in my recent Better

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<v Speaker 1>Workday Challenge as part of my next book, currently called

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<v Speaker 1>Big Time, I had hundreds of people implement some strategies

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<v Speaker 1>that I believe can help anyone improve their time at work.

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<v Speaker 1>One of those strategies is to take two short breaks

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<v Speaker 1>each day where you do something restorative. People try this

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<v Speaker 1>out and report back on how it went. One person

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<v Speaker 1>mentioned that she was naming her breaks, think things like

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<v Speaker 1>the morning walk or afternoon tea time. Giving her breaks

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<v Speaker 1>names meant that she wasn't just taking a half hearted

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<v Speaker 1>break by checking personal email in between Zoom meetings, she

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<v Speaker 1>knew it was time to go take her morning walk.

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<v Speaker 1>I know people take breaks in lots of different ways,

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<v Speaker 1>but I absolutely love this idea. In an eight hour day,

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<v Speaker 1>it might be good to take one mid morning break

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<v Speaker 1>a lunch break, and then a mid afternoon break. Lunch

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<v Speaker 1>already has a name, but what do you call those

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<v Speaker 1>other ones? I could picture all sorts of things. If

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<v Speaker 1>you decided to do the headspace app for ten minutes

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<v Speaker 1>mid morning, that could be your morning meditation break. A

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<v Speaker 1>mid afternoon walk might be called your afternoon constitutional Or

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps you check in with a work friend in mid

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<v Speaker 1>to late afternoon, this could be your tea time teta tet.

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<v Speaker 1>If you listen to upbeat music during a break, that

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<v Speaker 1>could be your morning motivation moment. You can see I

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<v Speaker 1>like alliteration, but what I really like is figuring out

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<v Speaker 1>what kinds of breaks you like to take when, and

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<v Speaker 1>then formalizing them, at least to a degree. People do

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<v Speaker 1>generally expect to take lunch. There is a purpose to

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<v Speaker 1>that break, and it has a name, but generally it's

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<v Speaker 1>good to break more frequently than that. By giving other

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<v Speaker 1>breaks a name, you make them sound purposeful and more

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<v Speaker 1>like an expectation. It is not just mid afternoon and

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<v Speaker 1>you are tired. It is afternoon constitutional time. It is

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<v Speaker 1>not just mid morning and you already can't think straight

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<v Speaker 1>because that last meeting was so ridiculous. It is morning

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<v Speaker 1>meditation time. Your breaks don't have to be the same

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<v Speaker 1>every day, nor do they have to be different from

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<v Speaker 1>each other within a given day. But most people have

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<v Speaker 1>certain things they know will reliably energize them. I certainly

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<v Speaker 1>try to grab a walk most afternoons. By naming your breaks,

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<v Speaker 1>you can turn what is sometimes an afterthought into more

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<v Speaker 1>of a ritual. Rituals are more likely to happen, and

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<v Speaker 1>if your breaks happen, you will be more productive. It

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<v Speaker 1>really is as simple as that. In the meantime, this

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<v Speaker 1>is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the

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<v Speaker 1>most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or food, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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