Life Fix: Take More Breaks, Get More Done
December 31, 2011
Get ready for the New Year!
Can you get ahead by taking a nap at your desk every day? That’s what Tony Schwartz advises in Harvard Business Review’s “How to Accomplish More by Doing Less.” Actually, Schwartz doesn’t advise napping per se. It’s about combining focused ninety-minute work sessions with breaks throughout the day.
He illustrates his point by comparing two theoretical workers. The first, Bill, spends the day straight through at his desk, even eating lunch there. Nick, however, takes a fifteen minute break after every hour and a half of work, takes forty five minutes for lunch, and even takes a nap of up to twenty minutes each afternoon. While it may appear to the casual observer that Bill is the better worker, Nick actually gets better results because he isn’t burning himself out. The article insists:
It’s not just the number of hours we sit at a desk in that determines the value we generate. It’s the energy we bring to the hours we work. Human beings are designed to pulse rhythmically between spending and renewing energy. That’s how we operate at our best. Maintaining a steady reservoir of energy — physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually — requires refueling it intermittently. Work the way Nick does, and you’ll get more done, in less time, at a higher level of quality, more sustainably.
Schwartz boosts his conclusion with studies of pilots and violinists, as well as with his personal experience. He seems to understand, though, that such patterns aren’t widely tolerated, much less encouraged; he appeals to managers to embrace intermittent renewal for their employees.
Good luck with that in 2012 as you race to fix a search system which has indexed employee medical and employment records.
Cynthia Murrell, December 31, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
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