Newsletter 7 - Take a break

It's the end of the year, hopefully things are winding down. If they're not, make them : PAUSE

Taking a pause is often easier said than done, I mean

• How will things get done if you're not there to do them?

• How will you meet your deadlines? How will things get done around the house?

• How will your gifts get bought, trees decorated, reports done, languages learnt?

• How will the world go on without you?

A break can be many things. As we saw very recently in a previous newsletter, a break can be a moment of silence.

• It can also be a meditation

• It can be listening to music

• It can be practicing your favorite sport

• It can be gardening

• It can be bunjee-jumping

• It can be traveling

• It can be change of activity

And the list goes on, almost endlessly.

It can be a 5 minute break, a week long break, a whole month. Maybe even a year (yes I have a friend who took a year off to travel the world).

Pushing the PAUSE button is essential for your brain - and makes you a lot more productive, creative, efficient.

Here's an incomplete list of how breaks affect your brain (positively):

• brain imaging shows that taking time out between meetings prevents stress from building up

• the brain cycles from highest attention to lowest attention every 90 minutes - yes you have ups and downs, why not take a break during your downs?

• when the brain takes a break it can perform better at solving problems and connecting and consolidating ideas.

• Harvard Medical School has shown that when your mind is completely relaxed, you learn and memorize new skills faster.

• taking a vacation will increase your productivity. Studies from Harvard Medical School and the University of California have proven that your brain is at its prime after you've had a break

So you get my drift. Besides, you already instinctively knew all of this.

Now you know it's scientific : take a break, work better. It's as simple as that.