During busy times, leaders need to take breaks. Don’t think about them as times when you avoid work but rather moments that help you refocus, especially when you’re challenged.
You probably have a good idea of when you need to unplug. If you feel yourself getting easily distracted, frustrated, or know your focus is off, consider taking a little break.
What Does a Break Look Like?
Give yourself a few minutes to do something like grab a cup of coffee. That simple action can pull you out of your current situation, allowing you to mentally regroup.
As you’re doing your task, like getting a cup of coffee, don’t multi-task and check your email. You want to think of it like rebooting a computer, where you stop all other processes.
Breaks and Meetings
Some leaders discover they need to take breaks before meetings. They’ve gotten used to rushing from one meeting to the next, which can be disorienting.
Instead, they’ve learned to take a few minutes before each session to focus on the meeting’s purpose, review materials, and approach the session with a singular focus. This five to ten minute investment of time can assure they are present and ready to act in the meeting.
Breaks and Busy Days
Some of you may have extremely busy positions and you don’t have time for a break. I understand that kind of time pressure, having worked in TV news.
In your world, a breath may be your break. When I was working on the news, sometimes you’d be running around a lot, you would have hardly any spare time. But just before I would go live on TV, I could give myself the chance to take a deep breath.
This roughly five seconds of slowly inhaling and exhaling would help me center myself and get focused on what I needed to do. It didn’t take a lot of time, but simply the act of doing it can help you perform at a higher level, especially when you’re stressed out.
Sometimes leaders need to take breaks to prevent mistakes when they’re under pressure. Think about if you have some of those moments, when out of frustration, you’re close to snapping at somebody. Instead, take that deep breath.
Maybe you’re about to send an email or a text message that is a little too critical. Take that breath and give yourself the chance to refocus. Reframing that instant may keep you from hurting feelings, making enemies, and having to later fix mistakes or misunderstandings.
Sometimes your most high performance days will come during moments when you stop.
Ken Okel Performs Virtual Keynotes Too
