Stop working. Yes, you read that right.
By Maia Regalado
Taking a break is not equivalent to being lazy!
As someone who is a victim of overworking herself, I’ve grown to learn that breaks are indeed necessary. Scientifically speaking, did you know that working non-stop makes us less focused? According to a psychology professor at the University of Illinois, if the brain remains consistent over a long period of time, it will naturally stop registering senses and displaying reactions. By taking a break, it resets your attention and improves your mood, overall garnering a better output. A second study in a workplace concludes that 10% of productive employees work for an average of 52 minutes and then proceed to a 17 minute break time (on average). As contradicting as it might sound, you have to distract yourself from your work in order to do better; but with that, you will also need to learn when and how to refocus your attention to your priorities.
It is also worth remembering that everyone deals with hardships differently. Some common reactions would be crying, sleeping, or eating. Those examples are all valid actions when taking a break. As KitKat’s tagline goes, “Have a break, have a KitKat!” — chocolate does in fact help get you back on track. It not only acts as motivation or comfort food, but it boosts endorphins (also known as happy hormones), lessening stress and anxiety. Spending time with family and/or pets (if you have any), would help as well; it is found that petting a dog boosts our “feel-good” hormones and can lower blood pressure by up to 10%.
You cannot deny that everybody has different work ethics — some might like finishing all their tasks in one sitting to get it over with, or some might like to spread it out across the free time that they have (this does not necessarily mean procrastination). When you see someone, a friend, or a classmate who is not working, you have no right to automatically assume that they are being lazy. When it comes to group work, I am guilty of doing so especially when everyone else is working and a singular person is not. However, in these trying times, we must keep in mind that we do not know what is going on with other people.
That being said, stop overworking yourself and go do something you actually want to do. You are not limited to the examples I have mentioned. If you want to paint a portrait, run a mile, drive around your village, or bake a cake from scratch, go do so. Lastly, remember to set a time for yourself to come back to do your work. You cannot avoid it indefinitely, but you can delay it — and sometimes that is completely acceptable.