And then there was autumn. With the holiday season now packed
away along with the meagre slithers of sun the summer managed to
muster for August, it's back to work, back to real life, and back
to Blighty with a bump. If you've been lucky enough to get away
this summer, you'll no doubt be mourning that blissed-out state of
mind in which everything in life suddenly seemed clear and simple
and wonderful: that calm clarity that is so particular to the way
you think on holiday, when everything seems achievable. Know what
we mean? When you are relaxed, you think clearly. You can
realistically assess what you've been doing. You come up with a
perfectly succinct to-do list for your life and your business. You
feel that much of what you want is suddenly very simple and
achievable.
Except... except... when you get back to work all those
aspirations and calm certainties evaporate quicker than a popcicle
on an Antiguan beach. And that's because the hard-working masses
(and business owners this applies to you more than anyone) forget
to relax in their day-to-day lives. Never a moment goes by when
we're not checking emails on our iPhones or making just one more
quick client call or running over those figures mentally to
quadruple-check them one last time.
We need to chill out. Not in a hippy escape-the-rat-race way,
but because interspersing work with healthy doses of relaxation
actually makes us more productive. It enables us to retain
information better: recent studies by both the University of
Michigan and the University of California found memories form
better when we take a break from activity. Loren Frank, a professor
from the University of California, told The New York Times: "Almost certainly,
downtime lets the brain go over experiences it's had, solidify them
and turn them into permanent long-term memories." (Note that TV and
internet do not count as 'downtime' - only less
mentally-stimulating activities such as walking or exercise
qualify).
And all this stress is damaging our health, which in turn
inhibits our psychological ability to work efficiently. Almost half
of 1,400 business leaders, full-time workers and GPs felt stressed
in a survey held by Norwich Union last year. One in five of those
asked were also suffering from depression, 46% suffered from
insomnia, a third from migraines and one in five from anxiety
attacks or palpitations - not exactly conducive to a good day in
the office, dear.
So while we understand that it might be tempting to work 16
hours straight to get that brief finished, you're not helping
yourself if you don't take breaks. We're not going to tow the eight
hours sleep a night and eight hours work a day line - we know
that's laughable for many of you (though for those of you who
manage your time well enough to do it, keep it up!). But we
strongly advise just giving yourself 10 or 20 minutes out every now
and then. Take a walk around the block, go for a jog, listen to
music that makes you sing so joyfully you forget completely what
you were thinking about. Just do something to take your mind off
what you were doing.
You may lose 20 minutes work-time, but you'll gain double that
back in productivity when you return to your task with a refreshed
mind and properly formed thoughts and memories to refer back to in
the days and weeks ahead.
Want to know the best ways to relax mid-work-day?
Read a blog we wrote last year on how to combat stress.