Hello from Hawaii!
I thought I’d take a moment between hanging out with my family (all 16 members from all over the country), eating, walking the beach and viewing volcanoes to bring you this tip. While many of my tips are not numbered in order of importance, this one is. I believe this to be one of the most important and certainly most neglected time management tips.
Perhaps it is because of the counter-intuitive nature of the tip that people don’t think of it, or often believe it. Okay – tip #2: taking regular breaks makes you more efficient. Whether it is the week-long type of break that I am taking now or just that five minutes in the morning when you stretch or walk around the block, breaks are important. Our culture of achievement and rushing and accomplishment encourages us to believe we are more efficient if we use that five minutes to get just one more thing done. Likely the only way you will come to realize how much more efficient you are when you take breaks will be to try it.
So here’s my challenge to you – take at least one five minute break in the morning and one in the afternoon. Take at least 1/2 hour and eat lunch – without doing anything else. See how it is for you. Likely you will be uncomfortable but that’s a good thing. You cannot make meaningful change unless you allow yourself to be uncomfortable.
Okay, I’m off to see the dolphins. Aloha!
