top of page
Search

Break Time

Give me a break, give me a break. Break me off a piece of that… rest and relaxation!!!

Some Back Story

I really have no idea how this came to be a thing, but it always seemed to be that taking a break was frowned upon and meant your work ethic was lacking.

I really wish I knew how this started. Perhaps it's from watching my parents, specifically my mom work multiple jobs at once and endless hours at different places to make ends meet. Maybe it's something I've just always done to myself to male ends meet and/or to keep from confronting issues. I really have no clue.


Perhaps as a society, we reward overworking people with higher profits for the organization and promises of reward and promotions to those who work themselves to the brink of exhaustion and beyond, or to the point of snapping and quitting.


All I know for sure is it's not healthy.


How to Do Rest and Relaxation

This is actually kind of an easy thing to do, and yet it is really difficult to do.


If it's easy why is it so difficult to do? There are a few reasons, one is we feel if we take breaks we aren't being productive and people could be judging us for taking some downtime to recharge. What's wrong with downtime to recuperate?


Secondly, perhaps it has been bread or worked into us to feel that we shouldn't be taking time off for ourselves. We should be "hustling" 24/7 or we aren't getting anywhere and are worthless. Thank you internet, society, and influencers. It's impossible for people to work 24 hours per day 7 days per week forever. We would go insane! I know I've tried and I almost got away with it for nearly a year. I slept 3 to 4 hours per day while working two full-time jobs, I went insane pretty much.


Needless to say it didn't work out so well for me. I developed low-level anxiety and depression due to the lack of sleep and always felt like I was operating in a fog. Once I was able to get a regular sleep pattern where I was sleeping 6 to 8 hours a day I started to feel better. I had my break, my rest, my relaxation.


Life had pushed me to this point. Life is the third reason it isn't always easy to take a break and rest. Sometimes you have to do more than what you think is humanly possible to make things work out in life. This doesn't always leave a lot of room for breaks to relax.


So what is the answer? For starters, if you're working for someone else you most likely have designated break times. I know here in BC we have two 15 minute paid breaks and at least a 30-minute lunchtime in an 8-hour shift. Check with your local labour laws and HR department because you probably do as well, and worst case you may have to get something from the doctor to state you need to get up and move from your desk or take a moment to regroup away from customers. Check first before going to the extreme of talking to your doctor.


You also most likely get 2 weeks off at least for holidays or at least you had better I am sure that is pretty well the law everywhere (If I'm wrong, leave me a comment). Take it, take the 2 weeks off and relax. You don't have to really go anywhere, remember staycation is a thing now. Just because it is called holidays or vacation time doesn't mean you have to take off somewhere exotic or anything it really means to take time to yourself and/or spend it with loved ones.


Now you may be asking, "but what if I work for myself?" The same rules apply to you as you get to make your own rules. Take your breaks, take holiday times, and relax. I know what you're thinking because I am thinking the same thing as well with my work. People are expecting me to provide to them. If you can have employees do the work, or if you are a solopreneur preload as much as you can into the pipeline so you can take the break and no one will notice as much.


Worst-case scenarios are you inform people you are taking a break and therefore they won't be hearing from you or not hearing from you as frequently.


Speaking of as I am on break for the holiday season you may not hear from me as frequently, and I am working on preloading the pipeline for the next couple of weeks as well so I can take it a little easy and work on a couple of other projects as well.


If you enjoyed what you read give it a LIKE, a COMMENT, a SHARE, and a DONATION.


Ride Hard and Live Long!


Sincerely,

Rob Hicks



9 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments

bottom of page