Go outside

Work/Life balance is more than going home without taking work with you at night or on the weekend. Work/Life balance, means taking regular breaks away from our "seat of operations" as well.

If you are anything like me, you spend a lot of time on your butt in front of a computer. Working in artificial light, breathing in recycled, artificial air. Eating when the clock says it must be time, rather than when our body's actually need food. Go on you know I'm right.

So what does taking a break away from your "seat of operations" actually mean?

Well, if you are concentrating hard on something, you can almost guarantee that you forget to blink. So do me a favour, look away from this just for a minute and blink - rapidly. Your eyes need moisture, and the moisture comes from the blinking, it distributes the "tears" over the eyeball stopping them from getting sore. The body is amazing isn't it?

Now, you've stopped reading this, hmmm - I'll wait a second -

OK - now I need you to go and drink a glass of water. I don't care if you have a bottle of water on your desk, I would like you to get up and get a drink of water, and drink it - in the kitchen. Rinse the glass and then come back.

Why? A couple of reasons, few if any of us actually drink enough water during the day. What you should do is set your computer to remind you once an hour to go and get a drink of water. Not tea or coffee - but water. The second reason is that if you've sat at your computer for a while, chances are going to be good that you are going to be stiff. It's also interesting to note that if you don't regularly move the legs you stand more chance of getting deep vein thrombosis - which if you didn't know - can kill you. So two good reasons to get up.

The next thing I would like you to consider is this - what do you do during your lunch break? Apart from eat that is?

Why not do something a little radical - if you can, go outside and eat your lunch away from the office desk. Breath some "proper" air. Or if you are fortunate to work in the city, choose a placce you haven't been to before and go and visit. It could be a bookshop, a fabric store, an art gallery or a museum. Spend a little while, just allowing your brain to recharge. Be a devil, leave your mobile phone in the office, or switch it to silent. Few things are that important you cannot have half an hour to yourself once in a while.

Then when you get back to the office, you will be much more awake, and will get more done than if you had sat at your desk, eaten your sandwich and thought about a snooze.

OK, you can go back to work now. Speak soon,

With Many thoughts,
Elle
MotivateMe! Providing you with the strategies you need to overcome the procrastination habit.
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