Perhaps, like me, you’re always trying to squeeze in one more task before you end the day or the week. There always seems to be one more thing that needs to be done. I tend to thrive on completion, thinking that once I get “that” one thing done I can rest easy. But then there’s another, and another, and another. Problem is, sometimes my brain does not play along.
My thinking gets fuzzy. I forget what I was doing. I stare at the screen, the paper, or the project and just kind of zone. In essence, my brain decides to take a vacation without me. Have you been there?
In the work I do, I am forever advising other people to plan frequent escapes. Admittedly, I don’t always take my own advice. Your brain, and the rest of your body is fueled by the blood glucose produced by the intestines based on what you eat. This fuel is depleted by every decision you make large and small. It’s easy to think that we can power through periods of fatigue and that is true occasionally. But in doing so, we drain the reserves which, in turn, requires us to spend more time recovering. In isolated situations, this may be acceptable. But it is not as a normal routine. This is also why we crash for a day, especially when we don’t want to.
Frequent vacations are essential. I’m not talking about a trip to France or even a long weekend. I am talking about short vacations during the day to recharge your batteries. So, what do these little vacations look like? It can be ten minutes of reading something fun, working through some Sudoku, taking a walk, or enjoying a non-work-related chat. Current research has indicated that the three important elements in these vacations are that they be a minimum of 10 minutes, avoiding the use of social media and involving something non-work-related. They don’t have to be scheduled, such as every 90 minutes. But they should be frequent.
These vacations should be augmented with routine, exercise and a healthy diet. The brain performs better with well-defined routines. Why? Because there is comfort in predictability. That’s why working in constant uncertainty, such as some customer service positions, hospitality management, and emergency medicine, can be so draining. Not only are the number of decisions made much larger, the intensity of the environments make them more stressful.
Bottom line? If you don’t take vacations frequently, your brain and body will do so anyway. For those of us who get wrapped up in or consumed by what we do, taking escapes can require a change in mindset, determination, and even the courage to say, “I’m outta here for a while.”
Now, this is one of the more than 100 practical tactics in my new book, Overcoming Overwhelm: Recapture Your Time, Energy and Focus. It is based on the more than 3000 interviews I’ve conducted with top performers in a wide variety of industries. Check it out by clicking on the link in the text.