Photo by AmUnivers

Ah yes. It’s almost officially Summer, and hopefully things are starting to slow down for you. Summer is the time for barbecues, baseball games, vacations, going to the lake or pool, and in general having more fun.

Or at least that’s what it used to be.

Thanks to the ever increasing connectivity that technology provides, it’s becoming harder and harder to really break free. In fact, for many we’ve forgotten altogether what it means to really kick back without the outside world clawing at our conscious. It’s not pretty, folks.

I’ve written many times on how to effectively take breaks (and their benefits) scattered here and there throughout the site. I’ve bundled them together into an easy-to-bookmark post. Hopefully you’ll find this useful and a timely refresher as we enter the season of Summer fun.

• Let Your Mind Unwind
  A great beginner piece on how breaks are absolutely essential to a great work day.
• Avoid Entrepreneur Burnout: Work Out of Rest
  Entrepreneurs are typically awful about taking care of themselves, especially with regards to sleep. (Not pointing the finger here; I’m guilty too)
• How to Work 8 Hours a Day Without Hating Yourself
  By using strategically placed breaks at intervals throughout the day, you can work longer and more efficiently.
• The 5 Day PM Computer Fast: Why I Got More Done In Less Time
  Don’t be mislead by the gangly title. (Come on, people. It was one of my first few months blogging!) This was a eureka moment, an early vision of what disconnecting from the Internet could be like. For five days I shut off the compy at promptly 5pm, just to a) see if I could and b) what it would do to my productivity. The results: awesome.
• How to Make Every Workday Feel Like Saturday
  Ever wondered why you can plow through work on Saturdays? I love working on Saturday mornings more than any other day of the week, and I’m pretty sure I’m not alone. This post shows how we can make everyday at the office feel like a lazy Saturday in our PJ’s, watching cartoons.
• Pacing Your Work Day: Are You Stopping to Smell the Roses?
  It turns out there is more to life than just work.
• Keeping Focus While Beating Back Distractions
  Focus is essential for killer productivity, but do you know the real secret to more focus? That’s right: Frequent breaks.
• The Morning Tea Break: Making Better People out of Nurses
  Studies have shown that nurses who take tea breaks are better nurses throughout the day.
• Prepare For Your Next Task Before You Take a Break
  If you’re wanting to maximize your work/break routines, this nifty little trick works wonders. It immediately sets you up to slam on the next task the second you get back, without distractions.

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Photo by Paul Mayne

Post by Albert van Zyl. Follow him on Twitter.

We often blame our jobs, families or the traffic for our stressful lives. To cope with it we visit doctors, buy self-help books and read blogs. But the truth is that a lot of us value our stress.

In Elle of June 2005 a reader comes to the amazing conclusion that “On some level, I equate stress with success, so, irrational as it may be, without it I feel aimless.” In a 2006 Financial Times one corporate animal confesses: “We are aiming always for the medal of achievement… Being stressed and overwhelmed by your workload is part of the validation of having an important job.”

The reason many people are attached to their stress and busy-ness is that our society sees it as an outward sign of ‘success’. A membership badge of the inner circle of people who are ‘in demand’. And by the same token doing nothing while others are working is generally taken as a sign of failure or having ‘dropped out’. Even Tim Ferris seems to be busy these days! Just look at the blogs, revisions of the 4HWW and public speaking engagements that his name is connected with.

This is why Tom Lutz saw that our society is not really about actually being busy, but being seen to be busy. Being busy is not enough – other people must see how busy you are, ask you about it and allow you to talk about it. That is where the satisfaction lies. Do the experiment of asking one of your friends how they are. It would be rare for them not to refer to how busy or stressed they are when they answer you.

So the striving to be busy and stressed has as much to do with how other people see us as; with what we ourselves are trying to achieve. The existentialist philosophers would have called it the ‘gaze of the other’.

A large part of managing stress is therefore to manage the way in which other people see you. The good news is that you can wear the badge of being busy without actually being busy. Our society does still allow some idleness, but then only if it is masked by something apparently useful like waiting for something to download or for a taxi to arrive.

The challenge is to not fill these moments of bliss up with multi-tasking madness. When we get to the point where we don’t have anything pressing to do or we are waiting for someone else, we make a phone call, send a text message, check email or generally fidget around with whatever we can lay our hands on. Sometimes the best thing that you can do is nothing at all. Just enjoy them. Gather your senses. Enjoy the present. If you must, an iPod or a paperback hidden in your coat are premitted props.

My strategy is to seek out, nay volunteer for, these ‘permitted idlenesses’. Here follows a list of my six favourites:

• Waiting for your PC to boot up. This can often give you a minute or two of staring out the window with your first cup of coffee warming the palms of your hand
• Waiting for your partner & children to get ready to leave the house. You don’t need to stress because you are going to be late. Let them do the running. Just take a book, sit on the couch and relax.
• Smoking a cigarette on the pavement of your smoke-free office-block. The little cloud of smokers is one of the few remaining social centers in our beehive offices. Their good company justifies the harm done to your lungs.
• Waiting for elevators to arrive. Rather than avoiding the gazes of the guy in the trench coat and wondering when the elevator will ever arrive, you can listen to some music or grab a page or two of that amazing book that you started reading last night. The same strategy can be followed when waiting in lines.
• Waiting for the kettle to boil. You don’t need to click the button and rush off to do something else. You may wait there with the kettle and enjoy a few minutes of quiet contemplation.Tom Hodgkinson recommends making your tea with leaves rather than bags. This not only makes better tasting tea, but allows you the pleasure of walking into the garden afterwards to tip out the used leaves.
• Dropping the kids off at school. With a little practice, dropping the kids at school can also become a wonderfully relaxing activity. Take time to chat with other parents, let your kids show you their classroom and see that drawing that they have been talking about all week. This surely beats dropping them off at the front gate so that you can get stuck in traffic a little earlier.

These are just a few examples of ways to gather your senses and enjoy the moment in small bits every day. With a some thought and imagination, it’s easy to find many more ways. Go ahead, give it a whirl.

Little bits of relaxation in your day add up exponentially.

Albert van Zyl blogs at The Next Small Step, a blog on taking incremental steps to awesomeness. You can also follow Albert on Twitter.

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photo credit: visualpanic

It’s no surprise that taking social breaks help nurses cope with their work.

The study employed an ethnographic methodology and found that the morning tea break ritual provided time, space and an environment where nurses can ventilate their feelings and gain each other’s support. Thus, the morning tea break ritual has positive contribution to nurses’ work and both nurses and patients are the beneficiaries of this ritual act.

Unfortunately the study is behind a pay wall, but just reading the abstract we can deduce that breaks are vital and a necessary part of coping with jobs.

We all have mental images of the highly-chatty and unproductive social butterfly. Yet maybe we uber-productites could take a page or two out the social handbook. Some of you have relayed that working at home has affected your personality, especially in terms of social interactions.

So my question to you is: What are you doing during your day to unwind and talk to someone? Not via Twitter or IM, but rather real face-to-face contact with a human being. I’m curious to see how many of us actually take a daily break to talk to a real person. Discuss! :)

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photo credit: Adrià garcía

Post written by Albert from Headspace.

Most of us feel that we work too hard and that we don’t have enough breaks during our working day. The time between 8am and 7pm is a blur that only ends when we unlock the front door at night.

We generally give time pressure as the main reason for the stress in our work day. But a lack of time is not the only reason. Most of us simply do not know how to take a lunch or coffee break.

When we do have a little time, we end up scrolling through emails with coffee cup in hand, talking about work with colleagues or playing computer games. Often we even drift back into work without realizing it. Yes, we are often dragged back to work by ourselves, not by the boss.

Where to start?

Taking quality breaks is good for company productivity as well as your heart and soul. (Click here to see some research)

Reminding yourself that taking good breaks will make money and save you from a heart attack will no doubt motivate you to start changing the way you work.

As a first step, take the 2×2 test.Try two of the techniques described below for two days. Afterwards, leave a comment about your experiences or email me at getheadspace@gmail.com. We’d love to hear about your experiences with this.

Do nothing

The best way to take a break is to do absolutely nothing. Don’t think about what you are going to do next. Don’t sit and stew about what your boss just said. Don’t check emails or take calls or even read the newspaper. If you find doing nothing hard to do, use some of the following techniques.

Variety, variety, variety

To get rest during work breaks, do something different. If you are glued to a computer, move around. If you are a waitron, sit down for a while. If you are a manual laborer, read something. If you are an academic, do something physical.

At least get away from your computer screen. Leave your cubicle if you can. Getting out of your building would be even better. This is easier done than said. A simple walk to the water fountain or a walk downstairs to buy the newspaper may do the trick.

Draw the line

Do not mix work and breaks. Clearly marking the beginning and end of a break will help you take a break in the first place. It will also ensure that you do not float back into work without realizing.

Designate a few minutes for a break set the alarm on your mobile phone to mark its beginning and end. Many of the techniques described here only take a minute or two.

Avoid discussing work with colleagues during this time. If you can, don’t take or make phone calls. When you do work during breaks, it stops being a break and starts becoming part of the work day blur.

Move

Most people are sedentary at work, so movement gives a break. Take a walk, do a few stretches (check out this nicely illustrated 3 minute stretching routine or simply check your posture.

Breathe

Breathing deeply reduces stress. Simply close your eyes and breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. Doing this 3 or 4 times is surprisingly calming.

Look

Your eyes need rest too. Closing your eyes for a minute or two is a surefire break.Looking at something calming like a plant, a garden or even just the clouds can also bring you back into the zone. If all else fails, have a look at the photo gallery of the Cloud Appreciation Society.

Listen

Close your eyes for a few moments and listen to the sounds around you. If your mind is too busy to do this, try and concentrate on one of the sounds. My loud old air-conditioner is very useful for this exercise.

Or hook up your MP3 player. Listen to whatever works for you, but in the end Mozart and John Coltrane may be more calming than Sepultura or Cannibal Corpse.

Take Micro-breaks

Micro-breaks can be taken at any time of the day. Many of the techniques discussed here can be applied without taking a formal break.

Take calls on your balcony. Try micro-napping by closing your eyes for a few seconds during meetings – if asked, tell them you were trying to listen carefully.

You could also try printing out your work to proofread it rather than proofing from your monitor. Walk over to your colleagues rather than phoning or emailing them. Or just stare at the clouds when you are sucked into another interminable conference call.

Albert’s blog provides weird, insightful and funny bits that allow you to protect and enhance your Headspace. Check it out or subscribe to his feed.

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Interestingly, many people don’t really give enough time to refreshing themselves. I mean, when was the last time you had that sigh of relief/relaxation? It doesn’t come often. Especially while we work. Work can add tons of stresses and burdens that keep us from, well… working. It’s a vicious cycle. While the freelancer may have a lot of added responsibility financially (living paycheck to paycheck, etc.), we also have a lot more freedoms when it comes to our work schedule.

So here are some actions that can renew our mind while we work at home. You’ll start to have more focus, more stamina, and you’ll be cheerier to boot.

Take a shower- There’s nothing a hot shower won’t fix. The combination of soothing warm water and the solitary time gives your mind a chance to really unwind and process whatever you’re working on. Instant renewal, people. Also, it washes off the stank that builds up from not having to shower everyday. Your family members will thank you.

Clean your work area- Not only will this relax you, you’ll also be more at ease without the clutter. Cleaning is more of a mental exercise than most people realize. It’s one of those things that allows your mind to focus less on your surroundings and more on your task at hand. Also, the change of pace between white-collar work and cleaning will invigorate you.

Brush your teeth- This one may just work for me, but I’ve found it really helps. (I might add, this is on top of your normal brushing routine.) The physical act of cleaning something, even if it is your teeth, will give you a sense of clean and refinement. Perfect for a quick solution to the doldrums.

Take a brisk walk- Never underestimate the effects of physical activity on renewing your mind. The time spent doing an activity that doesn’t really require brain processing (like walking) gives you time to really process things.

Create a meal from scratch- Turns out mom was right when she said “What you really need is a home-cooked meal”. Cooking a meal, as opposed to popping a Hot Pocket into the microwave, is quite a rewarding feeling. Using your two hands to create a meal makes you really appreciate your meal, and you’ll savor it more than you would a bowl of mac ‘n cheese.

Situps/pushups (small exercise)- These exercises are great because you can do them right next to your work area, without having to set anything up. You’ll be looking like Ahhnold in no time ;)

Listen to some good music- Music *always* seems to lift my spirits, especially when I feel like I’m in a work rut. Turning on some hot beats is a surefire way to make any work environment lighter. While I realize that “good music” is a highly subjective thing, services like Last.fm and Pandora can help if you’re looking for some new tunes.

As you can see, most of these activities are physical, and for good reason. Physical activities make a great switch from the typical, sedentary activities associated with the modern freelancer’s normal routines.

Photo by HappyBubbles.

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LifeRemix pal Chanpory of LifeClever has a great post on how to make more time in your work day… for yourself. Because let’s be honest: We’re going to make that time whether it’s on the schedule or not.

According to Neil Fiore and 30 years of research, procrastination isn’t the result of laziness. Rather, procrastination is a symptom, a way of coping with deep psychological self-criticism and fear. It’s because we’re taught to believe that working is good and playing is bad. To reverse this unhealthy model, Neil proposes a tool: the Unschedule.

At it’s core, unscheduling is really just scheduling the fun stuff you want to do throughout the day, and working around it.

I wrote a post around a year ago that touches on the concept of planning breaks. I’d even go to say that this makes a person more productive. There’s always going to be too much to do at work. By not hating yourself or your job at the end of the day, productivity increases.

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Although it’s very related to the previous post, I couldn’t help but comment on this great interview of the creators of Rockmade by Behance. Here’s the takeaway quote from the article:

“Having so many different kinds of projects and ideas in the works at one time makes it difficult to prioritize, but it also means there’s always something interesting and productive to turn to when burn-out strikes.”

I couldn’t agree more.

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I’ve written before that becoming more productive sometimes means taking more breaks. Unfortunately, real productivity-zealots can’t seem to wrap their minds around this.

“Wait… if I’m doing less, how can I do more?”

I can just see the smoke coming out of their ears as their mind tries to process this contradicting statement. So, to alleviate some of those uber-productive types from developing a nasty twitch, here’s a tip for those who want to take breaks… without taking breaks. (Are you confused yet? Read on for more clarity.)

What’s the best way to ensure you don’t burn out of your job/project/activity? Take more breaks. What’s the best way to make more time for getting stuff done? Take LESS breaks. Looks like in order to do more without burning out we have to …yep, it’s still confusing.

The only way to satisfy both of these statements is to take breaks that still involve work. For example: I plug away from 48 minutes at my computer, and I take a 12 minute break. But during this break I’ll do things like fold laundry, load the dishwasher, vacuum, run errands… anything that is done anywhere but at my computer. Not only that, but every 5 minutes I take a 30 second break away from my computer. I do a small task that also gets me up and moving, away from my computer.

Now, this break schedule may sound like it’s still work and could easily burn someone out, but it’s really not. Although you’re doing “work” during your breaks, it’s still a different kind of work. The best kind of tasks for these 12 minute breaks are manual labor, that don’t require much thinking. This allows for your mind to take a load off, which is by far the most important aspect of the break.

In order to ensure that every second is being used, it requires a little bit of foresight. It helps to plan many 12-minute tasks before your day begins, so you’ve got a queue available of things to do during the break. It really doesn’t take long, and you’ll think of plenty more as the day progresses.

The beauty of this system is that while on paper it looks like an 8-hour day filled with working and no breaks. But really, it doesn’t feel like one. Simply shifting gears between different types of work is more refreshing than you’d think. And you’ll get a whole heckuva lot more done throughout the day.

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As promised, I had an IM interview with the highly-successful author Tim Ferriss. Tim (among his many incredible feats) released a book called The 4-Hour Work Week, and it has instantly become a mega-hit. Fortunately, I was able to catch up with the renaissance man for about a half an hour. While this may not seem like much time, for Tim it’s astronomical.

Since Tim only works 4-Hour Weeks, and the norm for the rest of us suckers is 40, that means we need to multiply the time by 10. By my calculations, Tim essentially spent 5 hours on the interview. Needless to say, I’m very grateful for Tim’s time. ;)

Instead of asking Tim all of the normal questions (IE “How did a first-time author like you get Random House to publish your book?!!”), I thought I’d focus more on the creative process of actually writing the book. I’ve already written a review on the book and its basic arguments, so I won’t rehash those. I’d recommend reading it so you can get a better idea of his concepts. Oh, and be sure to pick up the book (Barnes and Noble, Amazon). Tim’s on the verge of national bestseller lists, and we love to help a brotha out as much as we can.

So without further ado, on with the interview!

Ok Tim, this little book you’ve written is creating quite a stir among slaves of the 9-5 work day. Where did you get the idea for this book? What was the “tipping point” for your decision for writing it?

The ideas came to me after a few years of giving my guest lectures at Princeton in high-tech entrepreneurship. I had reached the limits of my business model at the time (hours in, income out) and began to realize that our overwork ethic is based on assumptions that are completely unfounded and obsolete. I began experimenting with alternatives — mini-retirements, outsourcing life, firing customers — and the results were astounding. I made me furious that I’d wasted so much time doing what was popular instead of what worked.

Creative ideas (like the one behind your book) mean nothing unless they’re put into motion. You’ve certainly done a great job of doing this with the 4HWW. How did you put book into motion? Did you have any tricks that helped motivate and keep you focused on your goal?

The first key is to find models: sample book proposals, marketing plans, and actually books that you can emulate. The last can be found in bookstores, and the first two can be found by making friends with successful authors and agents.

Second, I never outline with a computer. Technology is a tool used to accomplish a practical task. Digital tools are overestimated and overused — they’re generally very linear and don’t model brainstorming well. I outlined everything on paper, and I had both a Table of Contents and chapter summaries before I started writing chapter 1.

To complete a book, I believe income as a motivator is insufficient. It is a brutal, time-consuming process, and publishing is not an efficient vehicle for income generation. I wanted to do one thing: affect more people the way I’d affected my students at Princeton. To show the millions of people dissatisfied with our live-to-work culture that it isn’t necessary. There are other options.

Interesting. Ok, so I’ve found that some of my best ideas never seem to come at opportune times. This seems to happen to a lot of “creative types” like yourself. Can you think of any specific times or unrelated activities that seemed to stimulate creativity for the book?

Two things. 1) Going for a bike ride of at least 30 minutes outside. Stationary bikes don’t cut it. 2) Watching comedies. I tend to do the first in the morning after an espresso but before doing any work, and the latter late at night (10pm+) after training for fighting.

Interesting. I’ve never heard of using comedy as a creativity instigator. I’ll have to try that ;)

Most succesful people fail many times before they succeed. Like you mention in your book a few times, you are no exception. How many business ideas have you failed at before you actually became “successful”? (This is to give hope to the rest of us ;) )

LOL… more than I’ll admit in this interview! No, seriously — I’d say a good half dozen. That said, I’ve never lost much investment because I am a compulsive micro-tester. I test small and then ramp ideas that return a specific ROI. I’m ruthless with this. It’s very popular, for example, for media (TV, radio, magazines, etc.) to claim that you need to repeat advertising to see an ROI. “Research shows that someone needs to see your ad an average of 27 impressions before they’ll act” and so on. Nonsense. Good advertising with a proper call-to-action will work the first time every time. Measure, measure, measure.

My precise process for micro-testing any product for less than $500 is laid-out in detail the book, something I was advised not to do.

Very interesing. I like the idea of manageable failure.

Ok, this next question goes out to all the productivity tools blog readers. What’s your favorite method to storing ideas, thoughts, tasks, etc. What’s worked best for you?

Simple: stitched notebook. I try and keep one concept, interview, or finding per page, and I number the pages and create an index on the inside cover as I go. For contacts and calendar, I use Outlook and a PDA with — this is important — NO internet connectivity. I use the Palm Z-22. For tasks, I use Outlook calendar for appointments with specific times, but I use paper for the important tasks with no pre-set deadlines. I’ll fold an 8.5 x 11 piece of paper until it’s about the size of my palm, put the top 3 to-do’s for the day on it, number them in order of importance, and keep this list in my pocket. Whenever I find myself distracted or wondering what to do, I pull this piece of paper out. It’s important to have your single most important task selected. For each task on your list, just ask yourself “if this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my output?” Go down the list until you find a good answer and complete this task before lunch.

I’m guessing that while you were writing your book, you were under some fairly rigid deadlines. Did you find those deadlines helpful? Many people hold to the fact that constraints really help foster creativity.

I don’t know if deadlines help creativity, but they force execution of the important. Recall Parkinson’s Law: the perceived complexity and difficulty of a task will swell to fill the time you allot it. I actually didn’t have too many set deadlines with the book until the manuscript was submitted, so I needed to breakdown the process into 24-48-hour tasks and milestones. I treated each chapter as a magazine article and approached it as such. I turned in my book early and had no major editing needed after-the-fact.

Deadlines are sacred. The alternative is no deadlines, and that doesn’t create the time pressure that forces execution. It’s deadlines or nothing.

Wow, great stuff here. Tim, thanks so much for your time, and good luck with your book launch!

My pleasure. :)

If you’d like to pick up The 4-Hour Work Week, you can buy from either Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Amazon has run out, but B&N has plenty of copies left.

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According to BusinessWeek, Nike and Deloitte Consulting are encouraging their employees to take a power nap.  It’s about time!

Today, Nike and Deloitte Consulting are among those that encourage employees to add a midday snooze to their to-do lists. Sleep scientist Sara Mednick applauds this trend. Mednick, a researcher at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in San Diego and author of the new book Take a Nap! Change Your Life (Workman Publishing), says napping can enhance productivity.

Here’s some other related napping news.

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