• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Pedro Carrion

Leadership, Travel, and International Affairs

  • Home
  • About Me/Contact Me
  • Advertising Disclosure
  • Quotes
  • Connect To Your Calling
  • Travel Tips
  • The Pedro School of International Affairs
You are here: Home / Leadership / Does the Effective Manager take a break?

Does the Effective Manager take a break?

By Pedro 2 Comments

Does taking a break make you more, or less productive?

This is a summery of a study that was done by Dr. West from the University of Miami.

First of all, in this study, taking a break is described as “a self-generated interlude in the stream of one’s current work activities.”

Over 300 city managers’ break habits were studied and the results were interesting.

These city managers used their time on breaks to engage in physical activity, for private reflection time, and to engage coworkers.

What was the outcome?

Taking more breaks is associated with increased effectiveness and feelings of being restored.

Taking more breaks is also associated with reducing stress.

Senior city managers strongly agreed that they get received good ideas when allowed to think alone.

Organizations that encouraged time out for reflection were associated with increased managerial effectiveness.

Breaks kept managers from being unfocused and kept them engaged.

Breaks helped managers retain information and gave them the ability to “connect the dots” in projects in order to solve problems.

A study by Staples discovered that 66% of employees spend more than 8 hours a day at work and that a quarter of them don’t take a break other than lunch. 1 in 5 of those employees said that they felt guilty taking a break.

On the flip side of that, 90% of bosses said that they encouraged breaks and that 86% of employees agreed that taking breaks makes them more productive. Although many think that taking breaks increases productivity, its’ actually the opposite. Working without taking breaks has been proven time and time again to decrease performance and lower effectiveness.

Personally, I find that taking a break increases my energy level, it mentally restores me, and it allows me to tackle problems from a new point of view. Some of my greatest moments of creativity have come when kicking around ideas with coworkers over a cup of coffee.

Do you think taking a break makes you more effective?

In order to increase the effectiveness of your breaks, follow these guidelines.

  1. Take your breaks earlier in the day
  2. Drink coffee!
  3. Disconnect from work during your break
  4. Focus on eating food that won’t spike your insulin
  5. Change your scenery, go for a walk
  6. Take a nap – this is easier said than done depending on where you work
  7. Listen to music
  8. Read something that’s not work related
  9. Socialize, especially if you spend all day looking at a computer screen
  10. Keep to yourself, especially if you spend all day talking to people in meetings

Exercise your eyes with the 20-20-20 rule or with computer glasses

If you spend most of your day looking at a computer screen, your eyes need a break, even if your mind doesn’t! Use the 20-20-20 rule. Every 20 minutes, take a break for at least 20 seconds and look at objects that are at least 20 feet away from you.

In addition to that, you might want to try some computer glasses. Read my review here.


Start 2018 off right

January 2018 we’re launching an email course that will walk you through first 15 days of the year and put you in a position to strategically lead teams.

In this 15 day course, you’ll receive an email every morning with a Leadership Tip and an action item. At the end of the course, you’ll receive a free eBook on Building Teams.
If you’re interested, sign up here.

[yikes-mailchimp form=”1″]


Related Posts

  • Lessons in Higher Education Part 2

    I graduated with a master's degree from the University of Miami. I never thought that…

  • Crossfit Leadership Lessons

    Maybe it was my heart racing at 200 beats per minute, maybe it was the…

  • How To: Dual Strategy

      How would you like to keep things economical and do things in excellence at…

August 30, 2012Filed Under: Church Lessons, Leadership, Life's Lessons, Productivity

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. My Cleaning Tips! | My great WordPress blog says:
    April 11, 2014 at 7:09 pm

    […] it only makes you mad, frustrated, and completely exhausted!     #3   (picture source)   Over the years, I have learned that taking breaks is a must! The times that I […]

    Reply
  2. My Cleaning Tips! says:
    April 28, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    […] from experience that it only makes you mad, frustrated, and completely exhausted! #3 (picture source) Over the years, I have learned that taking breaksĀ is a must! The times that I haven’t […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

IMG_8081 Welcome to my site! Here I write about leadership, travel, and international affairs. For more information about what I do, go here.  

Most Popular

  • 5 Characteristics of Strategic Resources
  • A Yemeni Muslim, Israeli Muslim, and Palestinian Christian Face Off – Not a Joke, it’s Arab Idol
  • American Airlines Admirals Club – Is it worth it?
  • Don’t Say “Thank You” To Your Volunteers
  • Arrogance begets Ignorance
  • Does the Effective Manager take a break?
  • 6 Characteristics of High Performance Teams
  • Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW)
  • Top 10 Reasons to Pack an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox!
  • Matters of the Heart
  • About Me/Contact Me
  • Paleo + George Foreman = America
  • 4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief
  • 3 Reasons this Dallas Cowboy is my Sports Hero
  • Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY)

Recently Published

  • 10 Things You NEVER say to a Designer
  • 11 Ways to Retain Volunteers
  • What does gaming eyewear or computer glasses do?
  • What are SMART Goals and how to set them
  • A few things you should know about Operation Christmas Child
  • 20 Tips on Recruiting Volunteers
  • YouTube or Vimeo and what’s Ooyala: Which is better for your Ministry?
  • 4 Lessons from 4 Years at Samaritan’s Purse International Relief
  • 7 Ministry Principles Your Volunteers Need to Know
  • Reasons Kids Wild Out in Children’s Ministry
Static 2 - Post Rebrand

Copyright © 2023 · PedroCarrion.com