Being productive is all fun and rewarding except on low energy days. At least once a week I go through those low-energy days where I feel like just chilling. Which in a way is good because I get a break but not good in terms of the responsibilities that I have taken up with the client.
Basically, The client doesn't care about my downtimes. So as a creator it's my job to handle those downtimes and get the work done within the timeline. So does that mean I shall take no breaks? Trust me this is what I used to think earlier.
With a lot of experimentation, and closely reflecting on my day-to-day schedule, I came to a conclusion that at least I thought was very obvious.
I found that I did not like to take breaks on normal working days. Why? well, I instantly felt guilty for not working on the current thing. How can I call myself productive if I can't work and stay focused on a task the whole day! So basically, GUILT was the reason I did not like to take breaks.
I needed to remove that guilt. But how?
What's the reason for the guilt? I felt I wasted a lot of time which was meant for work. I should have been working when I decide to waste time. Are you getting a hint?
no, Amey!
Alright XD. If you see the problem now it's actually not a problem of taking breaks or not. It's a problem of "Time Management".
What! how?
The guilt came because I was using up the time that was meant for work. Now, If either way, I am wasting some time in the day why not have a particular time for it. Why don't I have "Chilling" as a time block in my schedule? This is good for 2 reasons.
I won't feel that guilt of wasting that work time.
If I have kept the "chilling" block after some substantial work I will feel the "chilling" would be more of a reward. So rather than the guilt, it will feel worth it.
I have been doing this the past week and it definitely has changed my outlook towards breaks.
If you go through something similar, definitely give this technique a try and let me know how it goes. It has been helpful for me, I hope it's the same for you. Getting back to my writing habit now!
See you next week!