I guess this week is all about productivity. Because here’s another realization I had today:
You get less done when you’re chained to your desk. You get more done when you frequently get up and take breaks.
I know, I know. Every self help article on how to “Study Harder and Better” will give you this advice, but I don’t think you understand it until you live it.
Because you take me, a person who gets some sick pleasure when I don’t take a lunch break, and you tell me to do a project. I’ll work on it all day long, assess it from every angle, and I’ll deliver it to you by the deadline. But I’ll be tired and mean and frustrated over my contribution.
And then, you take a slightly less neurotic version of myself, and you give her a lot of water (so she goes to the bathroom a lot) and she takes a bunch of breaks. She still gets her work done, but she also gets some exercise, and she gets well hydrated, and she also gets some time to step away to think about the project from a different perspective.
And again, you may not be impressed by this discovery, but for me, a person who attained two degrees fueled entirely by staring at a screen for hours at a time and eating Mike n Ike’s, this is earth shattering. That I can have a taste of both worlds: less stress and more productivity. Just by getting up and walking around a couple times a day.
But again, if you’re not wowed by my revelation and if you’re looking for a real lesson in life, then try doing something that you’ve never done before. Especially if it goes against the very fiber of your very stressed out being.
Bailey Dailey 