Often, stepping away from the desk is seen as a loss of valuable work time, time we could otherwise use to tackle the next item on our to-do list.
Recently, I read an article [1] that made me think about my own break habits. It indicated that taking breaks during our workday can boost performance and overall well-being.
This got me wondering why we often spend 8 straight hours at our desks every day, taking breaks only for lunch and bathroom visits.
So, I'm curious about HN's break habits.
How often do you take breaks during your workday, and for how long?
What do you do during these breaks to help maintain productivity throughout your work sessions?
Also, do you ever find it hard to use your breaks effectively? For example, instead of doing something refreshing, do you just end up doom-scrolling on your phone?
[1] https://hbr.org/2023/05/how-to-take-better-breaks-at-work-according-to-research?utm_campaign=60914066303de1000182574f&utm_content=647eb25a887baa000172a21e&utm_medium=smarpshare
This sounds a bit of an unhealthy culture.
The idea shouldn't be to look busy at all times, but rather, to work on problems and solve them, solving them don't have to happen in front of the screen, sometimes, doing something else entirely allows you to arrive at a solution faster.
I'm working in an office, so it's probably easier for me than someone who works at home and might already feel some additional pressure to "prove they're busy and not just doing laundry and watching Netflix".
I take whatever amount of breaks I happen to take on any particular day, some days, I only go for bathroom and lunch, other days, I spend more or less hanging around other peoples offices to discussion work (if work happens to be interesting) or whatever is interesting. Some times, I go and turn on the arcade and have a game or two (Tetris Grand Master 2 Plus is my favorite). I might take a cup of coffee and go outside and just sit for a bit and stare into the sky. I know some colleagues who don't do this, and look busy much of the time, but none of the data I have available to me seem to indicate that they're being mor e productive.
I keep up my productivity by not giving a rats ass about productivity. It isn't a healthy way of solving problems for the sake of it. Sometimes I skip breaks when I am focused on something. I do the break later though. I think breaks are more important if you have overhead of switching work context to different topics often. I you have that large project, I think work is far less stressful.
Sometimes I visit HN when I do "compiling". Not really compiling, it is mostly moving data from a to b, but I have to wait for it anyway.
Rarely do I doom scroll, but it does happen if no peer is in the vicinity.
On good days I set timers to go have tea on the balcony. Walking the dog is even more effective if you have one. Try not to eat lunch at the computer.
On bad days I am so engrossed with my work that I forget to take breaks. I just end the day when it wears off.