Taking Breaks

Schedule regular breaks ahead of time.

• Make a point to deliberately schedule breaks for yourself, especially when workload is high, to avoid burnout from happening in the first place.
• Identify a time of day to give yourself 20 or 30 minutes to relax and focus on anything but work.
• We do still need you to complete all of your work and fulfill the hours stated as a job requirement, but breaks are critical to you completing your job. Taking breaks does take time out of your day, but the time spent relaxing will actually increase your efficiency.

Identify when you need a break.

• You're angry, frustrated, feeling tense, feeling "fried", fuzzy-headed, feeling overwhelmed, you have a headache, can't think straight, are thinking negative things about other team members, etc. These are signs of stress and stress is a very unproductive, and more importantly, very unhealthy thing to allow to affect your day and your life.
• It's very unproductive, even counterproductive to try to complete anything when your head is in a negative space. You will not be able to do good work by trying to power through stress periods.

Take a break and make it effective.

• Avoid looking at your inbox or any work related tools. Step away from your computer, and ideally step away from the place where you normally work. If it helps to put your phone away, do so. Texts, emails, and calls can wait.
• Meditate. Headspace and Waking Up are two excellent tools for guided meditations.
• Grab a book and read.
• Cook yourself some food or run out to get a healthy meal.
• Get some exercise, or do some simple stretches.
• Talk to a friend or spend a little time with family.
• Identify what works best for you.
  • Eric's frequent stress-management activity is to walk to a restaurant without looking at his phone and then look at memes or climbing/boarding videos for 20 min while he eats.
  • Alex's ideal stress-management activity is to put his phone away, close his computer, do some yoga for a few minutes, then grab his Kindle and a cup of coffee, and just sit, breath, and read.
  • If you have any more helpful suggestions or your own unique routine, let us know!

Remind yourself to keep work in context.

• There's no such thing as a real estate emergency.
• You're not going to get fired over simple mistakes.
• Your team members are there to help when you need it. (Just ask nicely!)
• Delays happen and it's fine as long as everyone knows about it and you set deadlines for completion later.
• It's all going to be okay.

Remember to take time outside of work hours to intentionally and mindfully decompress as well.