Better Breaks boost productivity and give you a bodacious “pump” that even Arnold Schwarzenegger would be jealous of. The reason? A simple psychological phenomena known as vigilance decrement. Your break is just as important to your productivity as your diet is to your gym routine.
The 3 Rules of Better Breaks
Bill Gates: “The most critical resource you have is your time… I try to make sure I’m only doing the things that are important.”
- Warren Buffett: “Success is about habits, character, and the temperament [you have].”
- Don’t waste time on an activity that doesn’t serve you.
Popular Bad Breaks
Netflix: Although Netflix may feel energizing in the moment, it’s a dirty energy that doesn’t last, not at all different from junk food and empty calories
- Your Netflix induced “good mood” is only temporary – thus breaking rule number one – and will only spur the Bad Break Vigilance Decrement Cycle
- Social media: You never know what type of content is waiting for you on your feed – you’re just as likely to see some troll post or receive an emotionally infuriating DM as you are to find something good
Get Outside for 30 Minutes
Wander aimlessly
5 Better Breaks
These include better breaks used by some of the greatest thinkers, artists, and inventors of all time including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Aristotle, and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Do Nothing for 30 Minutes
Let your imagination run wild and clear your head of all stimuli
- Do Nothing and Go Outside Better Breaks
- A relatively short amount of time has passed since I made the switch, but I can already feel a veritable difference in my thoughts and mood
Read for 15 to 30 minutes a day
Fiction, non-fiction, newspapers, magazines
- Read anything you can get your hands on
- Warren Buffet reads 8+ hours a day, and claims to have read everything from the first job he had as a paperboy
Exercise for 30 to 60 Minutes
Any type of exercise will do.
- If you don’t feel like doing a full workout then follow the Non-Zero Day Method and just do as much as you can.
- Alternatively, try the Yoga app down dog for free until May 1st.
